Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop
by Call-Me-Crazy.Cuz I Am
Summary: He is Garfield Mark Logan. She is simply Rachel. She is a community college student working three jobs and getting harassed by a jock. He is a handsome and wealthy man, trying to keep his inner animal chained. She dreams of flying away from her life. He wishes for a reason. When they meet, their worlds are changed. But neither is quite sure... if this change is a good or bad thing.
1. Part One: The Beginning, September 9th

**A.N. Okay, so trivia time: What happens when you put me alone in a house with two sleeping older brothers, two barking dogs, and **_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop**_** on a continual stream? **

**Answer: Mushy, Fluffy one-shots. **

**BTWS: I do not own Teen Titans, or the song, **_** Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop**_**; I own the story, obviously! **

**You might not see this yet, because I'm debating whether I wanna make this a full blown story, but in my mind, eventually this will be based off of the sing by Landon Pigg.**

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop**_

Monday:

Rachel winced as the latte machine roared to life. Yoli's Coffee was a fun, vibrant place to work, but it was the epitome of _loud_.

Loud customers yelling their orders at her.

Loud machines grinding coffee beans or ice.

Loud assistant managers being jerks.

But it wasn't like she had a choice. At this point, she could either keep working at the shop, or pack her bags and move back in with her father.

Which wasn't an option, as her father was a crack addict and practically lived in his own feces.

And anyway, her two other jobs, one at a nightclub, and the other at a grocery store, were worse. So, she cut her losses, and decided it was best for her to just buy earbuds and deal with it.

The worst part about Yoli's was that it was situated next to her community college. So she got frat boys and prissy sorority girls popping in, laughing at her, ordering outrageously difficult orders, and popping out.

She also got Reggie Brown.

Reggie was the football captain. He was blond. He had gorgeous blue eyes.

And the IQ of a toilet.

All of which made him the prime target for all of the female affection.

So, he'd gotten a blown up head and a swagger that most people found intimidating.

Rachel found it exasperating.

At first, she'd felt bad for him. She knew how ruthless her gender could be when they wanted a guy, and she figured he'd be the point of attacks.

And then he'd started flirting, and it had all gone downhill.

She did not like Reggie like that; it was the simple truth.

But, being the idiot he was, he couldn't contemplate any female not liking him and chalked it up to her playing hard-to-get.

So, whenever she was working, she could count on him coming in, with a group of footballers and a blonde dangling from his arm, and start.

Accidentally brushing her chest or grabbing her butt. Trying to follow her to the bathroom, planting cameras in her employee locker…he wouldn't stop. Once, he'd actually grabbed her waist and tried to take her out.

Luckily, her friend Kori and Kori's boyfriend, Richard, the heir to Wayne enterprises and one of the few truly good guys in town, had walked in, and Richard had gone crazy.

There was nothing going on between Richard and Rachel, of course. He was like an older brother, and Reggie never bothered her when he was there.

But as he and Kori got closer and closer, they stopped coming as often.

And when he wasn't there…

"Rach! Looking as smokin' as ever!" A deep voice said from behind her.

"What do you want, Reggie?"

"A black coffee," He grinned, showing off his mouthful of pearly whites. "Oh, and you."

Rachel tried to suppress her shiver. The idea of getting touched by his meaty bear paws, his hot breath in her face and slimy tongue in her mouth….was repugnant.

"Sorry, Reggie. We only sell what's on the menu," She said, turning around to start the coffee. A hand reached across the counter and pulled the strap of her bra so that it snapped on her shoulder. With a growl she whirled around. "Reggie, what the he-"

And then he kissed her.

She pulled away as fast as she could. "What the hell, Reggie?"

"You like?" He grinned.

"No, no I don't." She seethed. "Now get the hell out of my shop, before I call the cops and sue you for sexual harassment."

"But I like it here," Reggie leered, leaning forward as if he was going to force another kiss on her.

Quickly, Rachel grabbed her heating cup full of black coffee and threw it in his face.

It wasn't hot enough to burn or scald him, just hot enough to give him a scare.

"You...," He seethed, wiping the liquid off of his face. "Oh, god, as soon as I get you…"

This time, Rachel did shudder.

And at that moment, a hand tapped on Reggie's back. He whirled around. "_What?"_

"Look, man, she doesn't like you like that," A calm voice said. "Why don't you just leave and find some cheerleader to play with?"

"You know what, I will," Reggie growled. "But I'm coming back, Rach. You're going to love me."

And with that, he stalked out, and Rachel got a good look at the owner of the voice.

He was tall, dark, and handsome. His skin was pale, pale enough that it look green in the light, but his eyes were wide and deep brown, and had huge smile lines. His black hair was tousled and he wore a gray polo and black jeans.

"Thanks," She said, tossing the empty cup into the trash and sighing.

"No problem. Does he do that often?" The man asked. Judging by his height and voice, he was about her age, maybe a year or two older.

"Every time he comes in. Which is every day." Rachel tried for a smile, but couldn't manage it.

"Have you told anyone? You could file a lawsuit or-"

"Can't afford one." She said shortly. "Anyway, I've been dealing with Reggie for months."

"Okay," He said. Rachel was surprised that he didn't pressure her into telling the cop or something. "And I'm Garfield."

Rachel snorted.

"It's a family name," He shrugged, blushing.

She instantly felt bad. "Yeah? Well, I like Garfield. I think it's…cute."

And then she blushed, realizing what she'd just said. "And, anyway, no body's ever been able to keep Reggie from doing….Reggie. I'm surprised he actually left."

"Well, I've got a thing with animals." He smiled gently, and leaned forward. She was about to jerk back when she realized he was reading her nametag,.

"I'll see you around, Rachel."

**A.N. Thoughts? I dunno, I kinda wanna write another chapter, even though this was supposed to be a one-shot. I might add it to my queue….**


	2. September 10th, 2011

**A.N. So, I'd planned this as a one-shot… **

**But it won't leave me alone. **

**So, I'll treat it like my one-shots and update when I feel the need. **

**OH, and one more thing: **

**Densharr: You know what? I had absolutely no idea! OMG, I'm kinda embarrassed now ****. But, I think a black-haired, brown-eyed Garfield is gonna be necessary to this story…. **

**Don't ever be afraid or embarrassed to correct me, guys. I'm human- I make gigantor mistakes all the time. **

**Just, if you do, please be nice when you do it, and don't make it like, a flame or something. **

**Anywhosen….**

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

Tuesday:

Rachel dozed off, nodding her head to Ed Sheeran and dreaming of a knight on a white horse.

_The knight galloped forward, urging the horse. _

_Rachel cried out as the evil ogre, Reginald, grabbed her waist and tried to force her on his muddy horse. _

_Faster, faster, the knight rode, finally catching up. _

_Grabbing her arm, he pulled her onto his snowy steed and rode away, dealing a blow with his sword to the ogre's head. _

_As they rode off, Rachel pulled his helm away, revealing his face. _

_Before she could get a look, besides the smile on his face, thick, rolling gray clouds obscured her vision, until all she could see was a faint outline, and all she could hear was the knight murmuring, 'Rachel'._

Rachel bolted up, suddenly more away then she ever was during French. Before her mother left, she'd told her stories of London, Verona…Europe. She'd taught her French, promising her that one day, they'd visits Paris together. She knew the language better than Georg, the feisty teacher.

_Kiss me, like you wanna be loved…wanna be loved…_Ed sang in her ear. Unbidden, an image of Garfield popped into her head.

She groaned in her mind. Ever since he'd gotten rid of Reggie for her, she kept thinking of the guy.

She'd never seen him at GC before, so she gathered that he must go to Saint Hillary's with Kori and Richard.

St. Hillary's was a quiet, calm college where people aspiring to be writers, doctors, lawyers, or scientists went. It was the exact opposite of Gotham Central, the busy, crowded, smelly community college Rachel attended.

She'd gotten into Saint Hillary's. She wanted desperately to be a writer but her father had drained the college fund she'd worked so hard to earn on booze and shipments from his dealer, and even though she'd gotten a scholarship, she still couldn't come up with the rest of the money she needed.

So, she went to Gotham Central, where you couldn't walk down a corridor without seeing a kid smoking weed, a kid getting beaten up, and a couple sticking their tongues down each other's throats.

"Classe, vos devoirs ce soir, c'est de choisir un livre classique écrit en français, et de lire les chapitres 2-3 de celle-ci," Georg smiled, closing his English to French dictionary with a snap.

Rachel sighed as she grabbed her knapsack and headed into the crowded hallway. Today, it was Henry Timothy smoking weed in the corner, Stephen Harlenson getting shoved in a locker, and Slade Wilson and Kitten Travoni making out heatedly in front of the girl's bathroom, to the dismay of Rachel's friend Jessi, who was squirming on the door, close to peeing herself.

"Hey, Rach!" She heard a voice call, and shivers crept up her spine. Only two boys called her Rach, and she really didn't want to see Reggie again.

Like, ever.

But it wasn't Reggie-it was her GBF, Xavier Redman.

Xavier had bright, shocking red hair that was offset by his sparkling ocher eyes, and dazzling white smile.

She and Xavier had tried dating twice before, and each time, they'd only lasted a couple of months. Jessi liked to joke that there was 'too much pretty in the relationship' for it to work, but Rachel couldn't see it.

She was tallish, with a willowy build, and dark black hair in a shimmering shoulder-length bob, and her eyes where big and thickly lashed, but they were such a dark blue, most people thought they were black. Her head was just a little too slim, and she had a spray of acne on her pale forehead.

Not her definition of pretty.

"Rach!" Xavier called again.

She sighed and paused Ed on her iPod. "Xavier?"

"Doing anything tonight?" Xavier smiled as he pounded up behind her.

"Yeah. I'm going somewhere with Kori and Dick," She said as she kept walking. "They won't say what yet."

"You know, I'll never understand why you hang out with them. They're both stuck-up prisses with no life experience whatsoever-"

"Kay, Xavier, just cause Kori chose Richard over you, does not make her a stuck-up priss. And Kori lived on the island Tameran for like, ten years, remember?"

Xavier snorted. "Sure, Rach." Turning away, he called out to his buddy, Victor.

Smirking to herself and putting Ed back in her ear, she made her way out of the crowded building and across the street to Yoli's.

Hanging her bag in her locker and grabbing her apron, she headed out to the counter, where she relieved a very frazzled looking Bea Turner, another friend of hers, who was in a serious relationship with Xavier's friend Victor.

Bea shot her a grateful glance as she took over the line, which had reached epic proportions.

"Welcome to Yoli's, what can I getcha?" She repeated over and over as the line shrunk.

Finally, there was only one person left.

"Welcome to Yoli's, what can I-"

"Rachel?" Garfield smiled, tilting his head to the left.

"Garfield?" Rach asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, that's me. Wow, I didn't think I'd see you again this soon!" Garfield exclaimed.

"Well, I work here, so…."She stammered, cursing herself on the inside.

"Oh, yeah. It's just, I never see you around campus or like, at any parties…"

"Well, I go to GC, not St. Hilary's so, you wouldn't." She sighed. "Now, what would you like to drink?"

"Um…a mocha latte." He decided.

"Secure in your manhood?" Rachel teased as she started the machine. "Only girls get those,"

"I'm experimentling," He smiled back. "Hey, when do you get off?"

The coffee mug nearly slipped through Rachel's suddenly sweaty fingers, and butterflies erupted in her stomach. "Um, five, so in like, fifteen minutes," She said. "See, I work from one to five on weekdays, and from two to seven on the weekend,"

"Good to know," Garfield smiled. Rachel blushed, suddenly aware that she'd just given him her entire schedule.

"Here you go," Rachel said, handing him the heavy cup of coffee.

He took it with a smile, paid for it, and then sat at the table nearest the register.

"So, Rachel, do you like Gotham Central?" He asked, as Rachel hopped up on the counter and placed her earbuds in.

She shot him a clear,_ what do you think?_ glare.

He laughed out loud, making some of the preppy cheers from Rachel's college look up. "That bad? Then why are you even there?"

"Bad college is better than no college,"

"Why didn't you go to St. Hillary's? I mean, you seem brilliant,"

"You know, you ask a lot of personal questions?" Rachel said, looking him in the eye. "For all I know, you could be some crazed stalker Reggie hired."

"I pinky-swear I'm not," Garfield laughed.

"Again, are you secure in your manhood? I've never seen anybody over fourteen use the pinky-swear, especially not a guy."

"Oh, I'm very secure," Garfield smiled. "Secure enough to ask you to see a movie with me, my friend, and his girlfriend tonight after you get off,"

Rachel turned around so her legs were dangling off of the front counter and she was facing him.

"Are you kidding?"

Garfield placed at hand over his heart in mock indignation. "Absolutely not."

"You're serious?"

"As death."

"Then…I guess…one movie would be fine. "

"Yes!" He punched the air, attracting the attention of all of the girls.

Standing up, he knelt so he was in front of her and clasped her hand, gently placing his lips upon it. "Shall we go, then?"

"Wait, _now?_" Rachel cried.

"Yeah. You just got off," Garfield smirked.

"But I can't go now, I mean, look at me!" She said, gesturing to the dark, scuffed up jeans, paint-splattered converse, and t-shirt that came to her knees she was wearing.

"You look beautiful, Rachel," Garfield said with a shy smile.

"Bull."

"No, really. You look beautiful no matter what you wear, because you're comfortable with it. You don't try to hide."

A few people who'd heard what he said awed.

Rachel's heart melted. "Fine," She said. "But if I get laughed at, I'm coming for your blood."

Ten minutes later, Rachel riding in Garfield's convertible, and he was pulling up to the theater.

"So, who are we meeting?" She asked as Garfield parked and jumped out.

"My best man, and his future wife," Garfield smiled as he opened her door.

"Your best man?"

"Yeah, at our wedding."

Rachel spluttered. "Really? You're thinking that far ahead, on the first date?"

"Well, it doesn't hurt to be prepared for the future," He said, dodging as Rachel swatted his arm. "And there they are," he said, pointing to a man dressed in dark jeans with a white Ralph Lauren shirt, and a girl with long auburn tresses in a tight forest green sundress. The two were laughing and kissing as if they were the only ones in the parking lot.

"I see what you mean about 'future wife'," Rachel smiled.

"Right? Hey, Richard!" Garfield called, drawing the attention of the man.

_Richard?_

Rachel groaned inside. _ Oh, no, please, no…_

"Rachel?" Kori exclaimed as she came into view.

"Kori?" Rachel said, hoping she was hallucinating.

"Rachel?" Richard asked, looking taken aback.

"Richard?"

"Wait, you all know each other?" Garfield said incredulously.

"Dude, Rachel's like my little sister!" Richard cried, smacking Garfield upside the head.

"Wait a minute, Rachel is on a date with your best friend?" Kori exclaimed. "That is so cute, yes?"

Rachel wanted to curl into a ball and die.

**A.N. Well, I liked it. **

**Oh, and BTWS: **

**Jessi = Jinx **

**Bea = Bumblebee **

**Victor= Cyborg **

**Xavier= Red X**


	3. September 11, 2011

**A.N. Hi. **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**Wednesday, 4:55 pm., Yoli's Coffee shop:**_

Rachel ran her hands through her messy curls and yawned. The coffee shop was a dead zone, with only two couples laughing and sharing coffees in the corner booths. She'd barely slept all last night, and that morning she'd had her Writer's class, which was the only one she found beneficial, so she couldn't sleep through it.

Ergo, by the time she made her shift, she was about as awake as Cleopatra.

A yell slipped through her sleepy fog, startling her out of her thoughts.

"RACHEL ROTH!" Kori cried, barging into the shop and dragging Richard with her left hand and Garfield with her. "GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE!"

Rachel groaned. Hopping up on the counter, she yawned again, hoping to provoke some kind of mercy from the feisty redhead.

No such luck.

"WHY DID YOU NOT TELL US YOU LIKED GAR?"

"I, uh, didn't think you knew him?" Rachel tried.

"LIES!" Kori yelled. "YOU TOTALLY KNEW HE WAS RICHARD'S BEST FRIEND!"

_Richard's best friend? _

Abso-freaking-loutley.

"AND I TOTALLY WANTED TO DO THE SETTING OF UP FOR YOU, BUT _NOOO_, YOU HAD TO BE SELFISH AND GET WITH HIM ON YOUR OWN! AND NOW I DO NOT HAVE AN AUTOMATIC CLAIM TO THE GODMOTHER OF YOUR CHILDREN!"

Rachel couldn't help it then; she laughed. It was so like Kori to be pissed over the fact that she'd had the nerve to like Gar without clearing it with her first and to be angry that she hadn't gotten to set them up.

Kori humphed as Rachel laughed, and when Gar joined her, she hid her head in Richard's shirt. The awkward look on Richard's face as he stroked Kori's back and the way she could tell he was struggling to choke back giggles as well made Rachel laugh harder.

"I had fun, Rachel," Garfield said, stopping his fit of mirth.

"So did I. We should do it again, sometime," Rachel said tentatively. It was the first time she'd ever actually asked a guy out on a second date, and she didn't know if she'd done it right.

"LISTEN TO YOU TWO!" Kori wailed from inside Richard's shirt. "IF WE WERE NOT HERE, YOU WOULD HAVE ALREADY HAVE GIVEN HIM YOUR HEART!"

Rachel blushed furiously as the other two couples looked at her and snickered, not unkindly. Garfield had the decency to look uncomfortable, although there was an impish gleam in his eyes.

Rachel recognized that gleam; he'd had it last night at the movies, when it turned out they were the only ones in the theater. Not many people went to the old movie player, not since Wayne Enterprises had designed the Stream, which sent movies right to the television.

Of course, Rachel had like, no money for anything, certainly not Stream, so she continued going to the movies, where the prices were dirt-cheap.

Anyway, they'd seen _Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes_- Gar's choice- and Rachel couldn't remember when she'd had a better time. Garfield and Richard had made monkey noises whenever the humans came on the screen, and had screamed like little girls every time a monkey came on, clutching each other and throwing popcorn everywhere. She and Kori had laughed so hard, she'd forgotten that Gar wasn't supposed to know Richard or Kori. And at the very end, when she'd actually gotten scared, Garfield had grabbed her hand and squeezed, which she'd loved.

Not just because it was cute, but also because he hadn't tried to kiss her or do the 'move' or anything other than hold her hand, like he knew that she was wary of physical contact. When she'd dated Xavier, it seemed like all he wanted to do was kiss her or touch her, and it made her…uncomfortable. Yeah, Xavier was cute, but she wanted much more than a physical relationship, which seemed to be his main attraction to her.

"Definitely," Garfield smiled. "And this time, we should do it at my place."

Richard raised an eyebrow, and Kori looked up from his shirt, giving Rachel a tragic, what-did-I-tell-you look.

"Oh, I, uh, didn't mean like, _do_ it at my place…" Garfield blushed furiously and stammered.

Rachel felt bad, watching him squirm, so she decided to rescue him. "Yeah, I get what you mean, Garfield. We should watch a movie at your place."

"Exactly," Garfield smiled. "And call me Gar."

"We're coming, too," Richard said bluntly. "Knowing you, Gar, you'll have her fishing in seconds if we're not there to protect the poor girl,"

"Richard!" Garfield cried.

"Trust me, Dick," Rachel smirked. "If I want to fish for compliments, you being there isn't going to stop me."

"And like you don't do the exact same thing to Kori," Gar teased.

Kori blushed this time, and Rachel gasped. She'd thought that Gar had been teasing, but…

"KORI ANDERS, TELL ME HE'S KIDDING!"

"Friend Rachel…"

"Don't you 'Friend Rachel' me!" She cried, beside herself. "How could you not_ tell _me?"

"You did not tell me about Gar!"

"Yes, well, I didn't fish for compliments with Gar, now did I?"

"I did not fish with Richard!"

Garfield shot Richard a glance, which he pointedly ignored.

"Mmhm." Rachel said. "C'mon, I didn't get any gory details?"

"Rachel!" Kori cried. "It was not like that-"

"Relax, Kori, Rachel's teasing." Richard said. "Trust me, if she was actually mad, you would know."

"Anywhosen," Gar said, successfully steering the conversation away from the topic at hand. "Once Rachel gets off, we should all go get some ice cream or something and then watch a movie."

"Fine. But we're doing the movie at Wayne Manor." Richard said, the look in his eyes clearly daring Gar to fight him on it.

"Okay. When are you done working, Rachel?" Gar asked.

"As of now?" Rachel checked the clock. "In like, thirty seconds. Bea's coming in to replace me in a few minutes, and it's been slow today."

As if on cue, Karen walked through the door, her normal cheery self. "Hey, Rach!"

"Hey, Bea."

"How'd you get the nickname Bea?" Richard questioned. "I've been meaning to ask."

"When I was little, I loved bees," Bea explained, "And one time, Rachel and I went bee hunting. I really wanted to see one, so I slathered my arms with honey, thinking it'd attract one or two. But I ended up with two sleeves full of bees, and my mother freaked. After that, the nickname just stuck."

"That's cool!" Gar exclaimed. "Bees are amazing. I love them!"

"You love all animals," Richard shook his head.

"I'm Bea, and Rachel's Raven." Bea went on.

"Raven?" Gar tried out. "It suits you, but why is it your nickname?"

Bea opened her mouth to explain, but Rachel stopped her with a warning glance.

"It's just a nickname."

Garfield gave her the same who-do-you-think-you're-fooling look he'd given Richard but she ignored him. If they knew how she'd gotten nicknamed Raven….everything could change.

At right then, Rachel didn't want anything to be the slightest bit different.

_**Wednesday, 6:13 pm, Wayne Manor: **_

Kori shrieked as a man in black clothing dropped from the rafters and landed behind the unsuspecting babysitter.

Rachel rolled her eyes. They were watching _When A Stranger Calls_ in the Wayne home theater, and Kori had been screaming every five minutes since a half hour into the movie.

"You okay, Kori?" Richard asked, concerned as he stroked her head.

Richard and Kori were lying together on the huge sofa, while Rachel and Garfield sat together on the floor in front of the screen. Kori's head was hidden in Richard's shirt.

"Why did no one tell me it was so frightening?" she wailed.

"It's _When A Stranger Calls_, Kori," Gar smirked. "What did you expect, fluffy romance and comedy?"

Rachel stared at Gar in amazement. It was the first time she'd seen him smirk, and she had to admit, he looked uncannily sexy when he did.

"I'm going to, um, ask Alfred for more soda," She quickly excused herself, trying to make sense of the whirlwind of emotion she felt stirring inside her.

Sure, she liked Gar a lot, and she could actually imagine a future with him that she could never do with Xavier, but that was the first time she'd ever felt herself drawn to him, and it scared her.

Like, a lot.

"Do you need anything, Master Rachel?" Alfred smiled at her from the bottom of the stairs as she moved to descend.

"Yeah, Alfred, could I have some more….uh, soda, please?"

"Of course, miss."

She followed the elderly butler into the kitchen, where he gingerly opened the cabinet and pulled out a can of Dr. Pepper. Handing it to her, he smiled broadly; in the gentle, caring grandfather way Rachel had known her entire life.

She'd known Richard, Bruce, and Alfred since way back when her mother had still been around. She hadn't always been poor; she could remember a time when her father had been a big-shot CEO, and her mother had been a best-selling author. She'd never been anywhere near as rich as Dick and his adoptive father, but she'd been comfortable, and as such, she'd gone to Philian's, the private school rich children went to, where she and Richard had met. Kori had come along when they went to Gotham High, the only public high school available, and they'd all been fast friends.

But then her father had lost his job.

And everything changed.

"Master Rachel? May I help you with anything else?" Alfred asked, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Alfred, do Richard and Kori talk...alot?" She blurted.

"Miss Anders and Master Richard….spend much of their time together. What they do with it, I can not imagine." Alfred said, but the twinkle in his eyes gave him away.

Rachel snorted into her diet coke and walked away, shaking her head. "Thanks, Alfred." As she walked away, she remembered with a jolt that she needed to go to the library and type up the paper she had due tomorrow.

When she got back to the theater, Kori was curled in Richard's lap, hiding her face in his neck, and Garfield was checking his nails, clearly bored. On the screen, the girl was frantically checking on the children.

"Hey, guys," Rachel said.

"Rachel!" Garfield scrambled up. "We almost thought you'd disappeared!"

"I almost did," Rachel sighed. "I've got a paper to type."

"That sucks," Richard said, nuzzling Kori's head with his lips.

"Yeah. I've got to go to the library and type it up."

"The library?" Gar asked. "Why not just type it here?"

"I don't have a computer," Rachel said bluntly. "I couldn't afford one. And the library isn't that bad…only…"

"What?" Kori asked, her voice muffled in Richard's shirt.

"Reggie'll be there. I totally forgot, but it'll be the first time I've seen him since I threw that coffee in his face. He'll be much worse than usual."

Gar bolted up, suddenly interested. "I could go with you?"

"Nah, I'll just steer clear of him. Bye," Rachel said, trying to ignore the hurt look on Gar's face.

"Yeah, I have to go shopping," he muttered hastily.

"And I have to go to my last class, and then my apartment. I won't be ready till late. Bye." Rachel turned her back and slowly walked out.

_**Wednesday, 8:00 p.m., the lobby at Rachel's apartment building: **_

Rachel slowly walked into her building, shoulders slumped and yawning. Her math class had been boring beyond belief, and she'd had to pinch herself to keep from falling asleep. And now, she had to grab her notes and pull an all-nighter, while simultaneously hiding from Reggie.

Another yawn forced its way out just as Mary, her receptionist, called out, "Rachel! A package came for you!"

Steering herself to the desk, Rachel accept a huge square box from the plump blonde receptionist. "Thanks, Mary. Who sent it?"

"Three words: Tall. Dark. And Handsome."

_Garfield. _

Rachel slowly opened the package, laughing and shaking her head when she finally got the wrapping off.

Gar had sent her a brand new laptop.


	4. September 12th, 2011

**A.N. Hello. This chapter….is going to kinda be based off of the song **_**I Should Go**_**, by Levi Kries, and as I write it, I'm crying, because I am an emotional train wreck, and for some reason, this song and this chapter are melting me inside. **

**Special shout outs: **

**A Friend Of Old: Don't you? I wanted to write Gar as a bit of a hopeless romantic, but also really chill and laidback….but still adorable. **

**Guest: Aww thanks! A shenanigan involving Reggie is what's coming up, and thanks…I might need it… **

**KDenae: Right? I might fall to pieces if that ever happened to me, and I have no intention of stopping **

**And yes, I know that Gar is blond and blue-eyed, but trust me, at this point in the story, he has to look the way I've portrayed him. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Garfield, Rachel, Gotham, The song I Should Go, or the line "Poor, Sweet, Baby,". I basically own nothing except for an OCs and the storyline. **

_**I should go…before my will gets any weaker….and my eyes begin to linger longer then they should…I should go…before I lose my sense of reason….and this hour holds more meaning than it ever could….I should go.**_

_**Thursday, Gotham Community Park, 9:32 p.m.: **_

Rachel slowly turned the page of _Les Miserables_, sighing as she read of Fantine's plight. The night air was cool and light, and she was alone at the park, curled up on a bench, the exact way she liked it.

But it was getting late, and she had a 7:30 class tomorrow, she reflected sadly. She closed the worn paperback. She fingered the binding lovingly. _Les Miserables_ was the first book her mother had ever bought her, she remembered. Her mother had gotten it as soon as she was able to leave her tiny newborn, and Rachel had a photograph, tucked away in her bottom drawer, of her small six-week-old self hugging the book and smiling at the camera.

She'd actually read it when she was in sixth grade, and she'd barely understood it. Since then, she and her mother had read it a thousand times together. She'd only read it by herself about three times since the split.

It made her stomach twist every time she looked at it and remembered the happy times she'd had with her mother. But she'd had to get over it eventually.

_Les Miserables_ was the first step.

She stretched, and then slowly got up. Grabbing her knapsack, she slowly started walking towards her apartment building, which was only maybe fifty feet away from the park. It was deserted, as usual, with no one hanging out in the front or anywhere near, actually. Rachel shivered, feeling that she was the only life form within a mile.

"Hey, Rach!"

Or not.

"C'mon, Rach, you can't ignore me forever," the voice slurred. Rachel sighed. She recognized Reggie's voice, and by his volume and the way his words mashed together, he was drunk.

Abso-freaking-loutley.

"Go home, Reggie. Take a hangover pill or something." She said, walking faster, and cursing underneath her breath. The plaza was deserted, so if Reggie caught up with her, no one would see them.

"I heard you've been talking with that rich dude, Cornelius or something." Reggie called, stumbling after her.

"_Garfield _is not a _dude. _He's a gentleman." Rachel seethed, knowing in the back of her mind that if she got angry, she'd stop walking, and if she stopped walking, she and Reggie would come face-to-face for the first time since she'd thrown the coffee in his face, which was something she wasn't relishing. "And I have not been taling to him like that."

"But you want to," Reggie teased, tripping over his feet.

"Look, Reggie, just go away. I don't have the patience or the time to deal with this right now." She was only about ten feet away.

A rough hand grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. She locked eyes with Reggie, and smelt the alcohol on his breath. She recognized the smell and the way he was so out of it from her father.

"Why do you talk with him and not me, huh? Am I not good enough? You wanted a rich priss?" Reggie hissed.

"I don't like you like that, Reginald." She used his full name in the hope it would restore some kind of soberness to him.

In a flash, he had her back to his chest, and his voice was in her ear. She struggled, but his grip was like iron. "Why not, huh? Cause I'm not rich? You've sold yourself, Rach, hanging out with Richard and girlfriend."

Rachel growled.

"And," He went on, ignoring her. "You hook up with that rich playboy Garfield, who's going to leave you as soon as he gets tired "

"REGINALD FITZGERALD." Rachel hissed. "Shut. Up."

His hand pressed into her stomach. It was cold and sharp, and she felt it through her jacket like it was on her bare skin, and a strange stinging pain accompanied it.

"Then why won't you stay with me?"

The shivers started up again on her body, so violently that she was certain he could feel them. "Don't touch me, Reggie."

His hand ran grabbed her hand. "I love you."

"Let go. Now."

Without thinking, she kicked backwards, her foot making contact with something hard and fleshy.

The moment he let go, swearing and holding his groin, she ran.

Her apartment building door was close, but with every step she took it seemed to get farther and farther away.

Finally, she took a lurching step and crashed into the lobby.

"Rachel?" Mary cried. "There's someone here to see you-RACHEL!"

Rachel took another step and collapsed. As she fell, her hand landed on her stomach. Pulling it away, she saw that it was dripping with a sickly red liquid.

And then, she was in the air, being carried up the flights of stairs to her third-floor apartment, and she was staring into chocolate brown eyes that could only belong to one person:

_Garfield._

_**Thursday, 10:01, Rachel's Apartment: **_

"Rachel, this might be awkward, but I've got to take your shirt off," Mary said anxiously, her gaze full of pity.

Rachel gasped, taking tiny sips of air. Her stomach felt like it was on fire, every drop of blood spilling out burning her skin. She managed a nod.

Garfield stood with his chest to the wall, breathing heavily, his face knuckles white. Rachel could feel the fury emitting from him.

Gently, Mary stood over where Rachel laid on the couch and, using a pair of scissors, cut off the bloodstained hoodie she wore, leaving her only in her sweatpants and her tight green bra.

"It's….my…" She mumbled, staring at the hoodie.

"It's your what?" Mary said kindly, using a paper towel to wipe away the extra blood on her stomach.

"My…favorite….hoodie." She whispered, tears slipping out of her eyes. "Last….gift…from…my…mother."

"I'll get you a new one." It was Garfield's voice, steely with anger. "I'll get you whatever you want, whatever you need. Just ask. "

She smiled faintly.

"Rachel, dear, I need to wash the cut off. It's going to heart like hell," Mary sighed.

Rachel closed her eyes and nodded.

She thought of when her mother had given her the hoodie, just hours before she left. She'd come home from her last day as a sophomore at Gotham High, to see her mother waiting for her on the porch. She'd looked older, tired. Rachel got her dark, almost purple hair color from her mother, but that was it. Arella Roth was beautiful, timelessly so, like Audrey Hepburn. But at that moment, Rachel's mother looked saddened, weighed down.

Generally, all the gifts she got from her mother where jewelry or dresses that she donated to Goodwill later. Her mother purposely picked things that she knew Rachel would never wear, and they'd laugh about them. So, when her mother handed her a hoodie and told her to remember her when she wore it, she was dumbfounded. And then, her mother had left for a meeting.

And never came back.

Rachel gasped as the alcohol sizzled on her cut, and she gritted her teeth, tear squeezing out. Marry tutted, shaking her head, and Garfield winced as Rachel cried out.

"Oh, dear girl," Mary said sadly. "If I ever catch the boy who did this…."

"I'll kill him." Gar said quietly, but with enough intensity that no one doubted he meant it.

"Why….here?" Rachel gasped, the pain still tearing at her.

"I came to say hi. Visit, maybe arrange another date. Guess that's shot to hell." Garfield gave a humorless chuckle.

"I'm…..free….tomorrow. After….five."

Garfield laughed quietly, this time a real one. He came over and gently took her hand, brushing his lips across it slightly.

"You two are adorable," Mary smiled, pulling out a roll of gauze from her first-aid kit. As gently as possible, She wrapped it around Rachel's gash. A huge red spot quickly formed. "Now, dear, you'll need to change this every so often." She said, placing it back in the kit and hanging it on the coat rack. "And, young man, don't leave her tonight. I want someone watching over her."

"I didn't plan on it." Garfield smiled.

"Good. And that stomach can't take any strenuous activity, so don't get any ideas," Mary laughed at the looks on Garfield and Rachel's faces. "I was a senior in college once as well, kids." Stooping over to kiss Rachel's forehead, Mary smiled. "You remind me of my little girl. Angela was her name."

More tears seeped out of Rachel's closed eyelids. Mary was like the mother she'd always wanted, and for fifteen out of her twenty-two years, she'd had one.

"What…happened…to…her?"

"Angela?" Mary's kind face fell, and Rachel saw the echoes of an ancient pain. "She….she and her father were in a car accident. Neither…neither of them made it."

"Sorry," Rachel gasped, pain surging through her again. Only, this time, it was the pain in Mary's confession _and_ the pain in her stomach.

"It's alright, dear. Having you, and everyone else….it's like having them back." Turning, Mary walked to the doorway. "You remind me of her."

And with that, she was gone.

Rachel sighed, and then winced from the pain, clutching Gar's hand tight.

"I'm so, so, so, sorry, love," He whispered. "I should've been there."

"You….couldn't….have….known…" Rachel gasped out, breathing in between each word.

Gar disentangled his fingers from hers and lifted up her feet, sitting beneath them so her legs lay in his lap. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing, Gar. Honestly, I'm," Rachel winced as her stomach gave another throbbing lurch. "Fine."

"No, Rachel, you are in no way fine," Gar took her hand, massaging her stiff fingers. "Was it Reggie?"

"He wasn't in his right mind."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Gar shook his head. "I'm going to kill him."

"Don't." Rachel whispered. "Did you ever get hurt?"

"Well, I never got my stomach cut by a lunatic," Garfield smiled. "But I broke my arm. About three times. And when I was in third grade and played baseball, I got all scratched up."

"What…did your…mother do?"

"She…she'd whisper 'poor, sweet, baby," and then she'd kiss wherever I was hurt."

"Did it help?"

"Funnily enough, " Garfield smiled, "It did."

Rachel grabbed his hand, untangling it, and placing it on her heart, so he could feel the strong heavy beat.

Gar looked at his hand, her face, and back again. "Rachel…I should go."

"You can't. I have to have someone here to make sure I don't die in the night."

"Rachel…."

"Gar, feel my heartbeat. I'm fine. Honestly, Reggie….didn't do anything that bad."

"You just got attacked."

"Don't be melodramatic," Rachel tried to smile. "He wouldn't have hurt me. I wouldn't have let him."

Garfield sighed. "I know."

"Then why did you want to leave?"

"Because….after what you've just been through…after everything…..the things that I, well….they're disgusting to me."

"Gar?" Rachel looked deep into his eyes.

"And I know that I should take the good guy route," He continued, "Because I don't want you to question my intentions. But….my will is really not that strong, and I'm afraid."

"Afraid of me?"

"Afraid of what I want. I've tried so hard to not be one of those guys, the guys who act like animals and only want one thing in a girl. And then I meet you, and that all goes out the window."

"Gar…"

"No, don't." he smiled. "I needed to get that out. And, Rachel?"

"Yes?"

"You can trust me. I promise that I'll never try to take advantage of you."

Rachel looked at him in awe. He was truly different than any other guy, cliché as that might sound.

And then, another wave of wracking pain exploded in her abdomen, and she cried out.

"Oh, god, does it hurt?" Garfield said nervously.

"No…really…Sherlock!"

Garfield chuckled again, stopping abruptly when Rachel winced.

"Gar?"

"Yes?"

"Do…the…thing….that…your….mother did. When you…were hurt," She gasped out.

"You want me to kiss you? I dunno, Rachel, that's kinda what I meant by not testing my will…."

"Garfield what ever the hell your last and middle names are, I am in so much pain right now, I could care less about your mother heifing _will._ Now did the thing help the pain?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Then _do_ it!" Rachel hissed.

"Okay, okay!" Garfield smiled. "And for the record, my name is Garfield Mark Logan."

Taking her hand, he squeezed it gently. Looking into her eyes he murmured, "Poor, sweet, baby," so softly she wouldn't have been able to hear it if she hadn't been listening.

And then, with his eyes still locked on hers, he leaned forward, slowly, and gently placed his lips on the skin just above her eyes on her forehead.

Rachel felt a tingly feeling as soon as his lips made contact. She didn't know how to explain it, or what it was called, but as she locked eyes with Gar, she knew one thing: She didn't want it to stop.

**A.N. Okay, so, super long, and crappy ending. And, I kinda enjoy writing Reggie as such a dickhead. Creepy, but true. **

**Anyway, Bye! **

**REVIEW! **


	5. September 13th, 2011

**A.N. I am so happy! I don't really know why- although it probably has something to do with the fifteen Pixie Sticks I just downed ;)-but when I'm happy, I tend to want to write this story, because… **

**Again, I don't really know. Dang…. **

**So, on with the shout outs, then? **

**Thanks to InThatMomentISwear, Express-Yourself101, and Katwizzle for favriting! **

**Virtual Cookies to InThatMomentISwear, Thowell3, and MelonLord28 for following! **

**And a thousand hugs to everyone who reviewed! **

**ChrisC-cartoonluvr: Thanks! I love writing this story, and I'm glad you love reading it! **

**Guest: Aww thanks! I'm planning on it, and I love the characters too! **

**A Friend Of Old: RIGHT? OMG you don't even know yet, but SPOILER ALERT: Garfield is going to need some EXTREME will power….and even that might not be enough….wink wink **

**I' . .: I know! Poor Rachel….although, honestly, Reggie didn't stand a chance. Rach is totally bad ass! **

**MelonLord28: COOLIO! I'm glad that this story is helping you change your mind! **

**Katwizzle: Aww, I love you! And I can't wait to write 'em! **

**Oh, and BTWS, I'm going to write this story in a certain way: Every five chapters, I'm going to switch point of views. **

**What I mean by this is that in chapters 1-4 I wrote the story from Rachel's POV, right? Well, in chapters 5-9, it'll be from Gar's POV. And then for 10-14, It'll be back in Rachel's. **

**Rachel may seem a little…OC in Gar's chapters, but that's because he sees her differently than she sees herself. Ooo, that was tweetable!**

**Sound Good? **

**Alrighty Then. **

**Oh…..are you waiting for something? **

**OH! DUH! Shall I start the story now, then? Again, fifteen Pixie Sticks.**

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**Friday, 1:23 a.m., Rachel's apartment: **_

"Garfield!" Rachel's voice slipped through his dreams, startling him awake.

He blushed as he remembered what had been happening in his dreams. Rachel had been…actively involved.

"W-what do you need, Rachel?" He yawned, letting his eyes focus. When they did, he blushed again. He'd forgotten that she was still only wearing tight sweatpants and small green….he blushed for the third time as his eyes subconsciously fell to her chest.

Rachel snapped her fingers in front of his nose impatiently; clearing his brain of all the thoughts he tried so hard to keep at bay.

"W-w-what time is it?" He said quickly.

"One in the morning. And I'm cold. And my bandage is soaked." Rachel rushed out, pointing at the bloodstained wrap of gauze around her stomach.

The sight of the stained linen made his blood boil. God, he wanted to get his hands on Reggie. Make him suffer tenfold for every time Rachel cried out, for every drop of blood staining her pale skin.

He recalled how smooth that skin was, how warm and firm it had felt underneath his lips.

And then he mentally slapped himself.

_Get a grip, Gar_ he told himself sternly. _Stop thinking of her like that. She's not a choice cut of meat. And Dick would kill you if he knew._

Garfield sighed. "Okay. I'll change the bandage, and then we'll find some way to warm you up."

Rachel nodded, rubbing her pale arms with her hands. Garfield noticed with a pang that her fingertips were a delicate shade of blue.

Garfield had always been an impulsive person. And, acting on said impulses had gotten him many good places.

But he couldn't help himself. Gently taking her hands- he noted that she had surprisingly small and delicate her hands were-, he kissed each fingertip, letting his lips linger on each one until they returned to the pale shade they normally were.

"Now," He smiled, looking into her surprised blue eyes. "Let's change that gauze."

As he got up, reaching for the box Mary had left, he reflected that Rachel's eyes weren't really blue. They were a navy color, yes, but that wasn't the only color present: gold and flecks of purple, and at the very center, pale, pale green.

They were mesmerizing, he decided as he pulled the roll of pure white out. As was she.

Yes, she was beautiful; Garfield didn't try to deny that. Everything thing she did made him want to grab her and kiss her.

But besides that, she was entrapping. She had an air of mystery around her that he couldn't recall anyone else he knew having.

It mesmerized him, more than he really understood. Watching her….he could spend his entire life doing just that.

Shaking himself out of his trance, he reached out, grabbing Rachel's sides in a way he hoped wasn't rough.

And still, when his hands touched her, he felt his breath hitch.

_Get it together, Gar._

"Sorry, I have to-" He gestured to the gauze in his hands.

"It's okay. " Rachel sighed. Was it his imagination, or was there a hitch in her voice as well?

Probably his imagination. He knew he wasn't Richard, whose intense good looks and flirtatious nature made him the ultimate playboy. At least, until he met Kori. He knew that he wasn't ugly, but he also knew that he was nowhere near enough to make a girl as gorgeous and amazing as Rachel aroused.

Gently, ever so gently, he wrapped the bandage around her tiny waist. With a jolt, he saw that her waist was _too_ tiny. He hadn't been able to observe many girls' waist- what was he, a perv?- but even so, he could tell that she was much too thin. It went beyond the willowy, small, beautiful frame she rocked.

She hadn't been eating; it was obvious to him now.

He thought back to the first date, hoping to remember her eating some popcorn, or stealing one of his licorice wands.

But he couldn't.

And at Wayne Manor, he only remembered her drinking a diet coke, or a Dr. Pepper.

Never anything substantial.

His hands know shaking with the weight of his revelation; he smoothed over the gauze, his fingertips dancing slightly over the spot where he'd kissed her.

God, it had been so hard to keep his composure when his lips had touched the warm skin.

And yet, he'd stopped himself.

Because, you couldn't be best friends with Dick Grayson without seeing him charm and smile his way into the rooms of even the biggest safe-keepers.

And then watching him throw them away like used tissues.

Most guys would've laughed with him over the matter, teased him over how fast he'd done the newest one.

Garfield had looked at Dick with pain in his eyes and walked away.

He couldn't help but think of it from the girls' perspective. How they all loved him and thought he'd be with them forever. Like he loved them too.

He couldn't help but think how they must've felt when Dick walked away, not even sparing them a backwards look.

Every time, he wanted to warn them. Tell them to get away, as fast as they could.

Richard was loyal, trustworthy, and a great best friend to Gar.

But to the rest of the world, especially its female population, he was the biggest playboy who ever breathed air.

And Garfield knew that he never wanted to be that guy.

But Rachel tempted him. So, so, so much. The little things she did, the way the corners of her mouth went down when she talked.

And he had to work twice as hard to keep in sight what he'd been trying to do for forever.

"I'm cold," Rachel said again.

Shaking his head, he jumped back to reality. "Do you have any blankets? I can wrap you in o-"

Before he'd finished, she had heaved herself up, as gently as she could, and climbed into his lap, throwing her arms around his neck and snuggling into him.

Every nerve in his body went on Sudden Rachel Alert.

"Rachel, when you said you were cold, I didn't think you meant for _me_ to warm you up," He said quickly, thoughts running through his head in a whirl of chaos.

"You're warm." She mumbled into his neck.

The feeling of her warm breath on his skin sent shivers down his spine.

"Rachel, are you thinking clearly?"

"Yes, dimwit." She growled. Garfield smiled, recognizing the regular Rachel in her voice.

"But I also like it when you touch me. Is that so weird?"

"Yeah, it is."

She sighed.

"Rachel, do you not remember anything I said last night?"

She swatted stomach with her foot indignantly. "Of course I do, grassstain. I got my stomach cut, I didn't hit my head!"

"Speaking of your stomach, remember, no strenuous movements…"

"Why are you so careful with me, Garfield Mark Logan?"

He stopped mid-word. "What?"

"Why. Are. You. So. Careful. With. Me?"

"I told you-" He began.

"I want the real reason."

Garfield sighed, and gently placed one of his hands on Rachel's head, running his fingers through the short strands of hair.

"Hanging out with guys….you have to watch them be guys. You know, talk about girls like animals, mess with their affections. And I…never want to be like that with you."

"Gar?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Shut up."

A cold sweat started forming on his neck.

Rachel snuggled back into his neck with a contented purr, and soon, the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest against his told him that she was asleep.

Closing his eyes, he let his mind wander. Images came to him, thoughts of Richard and Kori, and everyone else. Thoughts of his parents, staring lovingly at him as they had his entire life.

And thoughts of Rachel.

Snapping his eyes open, he sighed.

Maybe he…just wouldn't sleep tonight.

So, he contented himself with playing with wisps of Rachel's hair and admiring how beautiful, how timeless she looked when she slept.

And slowly, over a time scale of hours, out on the horizon, the sun rose, bathing the room in a pale pink, and finally giving Gar rest from the sleepless night.

**A.N. Bit fluffy, but I liked it. **

**This chapter's goal was to hi-lite how much of an amazing guy Gar is, and also how much he struggles to stay that way. **

**Did I achieve that goal? **

**REVIEW! **


	6. September 14th, 2011

**A.N. HI!  
I've missed you guys so much, even though I've only been away, for like, a day…. **

**Anywhosen- I LOVE THAT WORD!-I'm gonna do the dedications and thank yous! **

**A bajillion smiles to Chickie-Poo, Harmonious Wolf, I' . ., Saphira Veera, Ianamere, and HollywoodUndead4eva for favoriting! **

**Much love to 506thpir, Chickie-Poo, Saphira Veera, Harmonious Wolf, and I' . for following! **

**And special thanks to Jay-JayHaven0115 for following and favoriting me, and also my one-shot Crazier, which, if you like **_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop,**_** I encourage you to check out! **

**And of course, I wish true love and happiness onto everyone who reviewed! (And everyone who didn't- unless your name is either Maxwell Sweet or Samule Gach-Davenport, I wish happiness and true love to you. If you are Max or Sam, go die in a hole. Please. NO, don't go die in a hole, I'm just kidding, although I am still pissed at the both of you! And The Wicked Witch.) **

**Saphira Veera: Thanks for checking! You are amazing ****, and I'm happy you like it! And I KNOW RIGHT?! It may just be me, but I personally think Gar's sexy. And I was jumping up and down when I wrote it! Again, thank you, and I love you for doing that! And isn't Gar just…..Gar? I can't even describe him! And yeah, Rachel is a lot a bit OOC, but I think I explained why in that PM. BTWS, I hope that PM wasn't mean or anything, I wasn't trying to! **

**I' . : Well, that makes me happy! And don't worry, I have weird friends too. In fact, most of them would strip the girl down regardless, and then go to jail for sexual assault like Reggie might. I haven't decided….OOPS SPOILER! My bad…..although not really because I haven't decided. ANYWHOSEN….THANKS! **

**Guest: Aww, thanks! It's fun for me to write it **

**SaphireDragon15: RIGHT?! I was blushing when I wrote that….I hope I'm talking about the right authors note, or else I'm gonna look crazy stupid….which I'm okay with….And I'm on it! **

**Katwizzle: YAY ME! I'm so happy you liked it! AND I KNOW RIGHT! **

**Harmonious Wolf: I love your screen name…it's so peaceful and calm. It makes me want to make some herbal tea and read a book while it rains outside. Anyway, thanks for getting it! I tried really hard to show how much Gar wants Rachel and how hard it is for him not to act on that. And aww thanks! And That's kinda the effect I wanted! I love you! **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**Friday, 10:30 a.m., Rachel's apartment: **_

Garfield slowly stretched himself awake and dug in his pocket for the ringing cell phone.

The annoying ringtone told him that it was Dick calling, so he couldn't ignore it. Sighing mentally and trying not to disturb the still sleeping Rachel, he answered.

"Gar?" Richard's frantic voice came through the speaker. "Is Kori there?"

"Why would Kori be here?" Gar spoke quietly, still holding Rachel in his lap.

"Is she there? And where are you?"

"No…and I'm at Rachel's apartment." Garfield winced, knowing that Dick would be furious.

"YOU'RE WHERE?" Dick exploded, sending waves of static through Gar's ears.

"I'm at Rachel's apartment?"

"Garfield Mark Logan, tell me you did not!" Dick barked.

"Dude! I didn't! You know me; I wouldn't take advantage of her like that!" Gar protested.

"Then why are you at her apartment?"

"Cause, she got attacked by Reggie, and he cut her stomach, so we had to bandage it, and her receptionist said I couldn't leave her, so she climbed into my lap, and now she's asleep," Gar said, knowing even as he said it that Richard wouldn't believe him.

"Dude, if you did, then just say it!" Typical Dick.

"I _didn't_, but that aside, what's the deal? Why are you looking for Kori?"

"We, uh…." Richard faltered.

"You what?" Garfield braced himself. _We broke up, we got in a fight, we were abducted by man-eating tigers…. _

"We got married."

_**Friday, 10:50, Wayne Manor: **_

"Tell me again?" Garfield asked, rubbing his temples with his fingers.

Rachel glared at Richard from the couch where she and Gar sat, while Dick paced in front of them, clearly agitated.

"We eloped. Got hitched. Jumped the broom. C'mon, man, how many times do I have to say it?"

"Until you laugh at tell me this all an elaborate, albeit late, April Fool's joke," Gar snapped.

"Dude, it's September, and I'm not kidding. I'm married."

Rachel grabbed a pillow and heaved it at Richard. "I can't believe this! You guys eloped? And didn't tell me?"

Garfield gently took Rachel's waist, right above her cut, and pulled her closer so that she wouldn't hurt herself. "Calm down, Rachel."

She glared once more at Richard before turning back to Gar. "Let go of me. I'm not a baby you have to hold every five seconds. Honestly, can you not control yourself that much that you have to do that?"

Garfield recoiled, hurt showing in his eyes. He could tell Rachel was saw it, because her eyes softened. "Gar, I didn't-"

"Where is she now?" He cut her off, as if she hadn't been speaking.

"I don't know! I woke up this morning, and she wasn't there!" Richard started grabbing at his hair. "Man, I'm freaking married to her! What do I do?"

"What did she say last night?" Garfield asked soothingly, still ignoring her.

"That…that she didn't think we were ready, and she was sorry about forcing this on me," Richard cried. "Dude, I thought she was kidding!"

Garfield shook his head. "Rule number one: Unless she specifically says that she is, she's never kidding. Honestly, man, she's got a point. She probably imagined a huge white wedding, not eloping!"

"You think?"

"Man, I know. But honestly, were you sober last night?" Garfield asked, knowing the answer before he even said anything.

"Um….how sober is sober?"

"Were you even going to propose?"

"Um…."

"RICHARD!" Rachel shrieked, throwing another pillow at him. "COME ON!"

"She's right," Gar said, still refusing to look at her. He was hurt that she could say that, when he'd poured his heart out to her. He'd had to work so hard to keep the little control he had, and of course, she'd had a biting remark about it. But that was just Rachel. He loved everything about her, and of course, he loved how she was a loose cannon. He'd just forgotten how much it hurt when you were her target. "That's a bad move. You weren't even thinking of proposing?"

"I didn't think she'd want to get married!"

"_Of Course_ she wanted to get married! She's been dragging you to jewelry stores and gushing about weddings for a year!" Rachel shrieked.

"Dude, I thought she'd changed you." Garfield shook his head sadly. "I thought your playboy days were over. The only reason you're looking for her now is because you got drunk and eloped. That's pathetic."

Rising up, he started towards the door.

"Gar, I'm not looking for her because I want a divorce! I'm looking because I love her."

"Not enough." Gar shook his head as her grasped the silver doorknob.

"MAN!" Richard yelled. "WHAT THE HELL!"

Gar turned around, suddenly more furious with Richard than he could ever remember being with anyone. In fact, normally he didn't get angry. He got hurt, but never angry.

Until then.

"SHE LOVES YOU, RICHARD! AND ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT IS HOW SOON YOU CAN GET INTO HER PANTS! THAT'S WRONG ON SO MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS, LEAST OF ALL THE FACT THAT AFTER EVERYTHING YOU GUYS HAVE BEEN THROUGH, YOU NEVER EVEN HAD AN INKLING OF DESIRE TO ACTUALLY MARRY HER!"

"I know, Gar," Richard said brokenly. "Don't you think I know that?"

"THEN FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, RICHARD, MAN UP!" With every word, Gar jabbed a finger into Richard's chest. "Your entire life, Richard Grayson, you've been able to slide through things. Act as if they don't matter. You've been able to go through girls like toilet paper, toying with them and throwing them away the moment you get bored, or any actual commitment is required. I've had to sit and watch them give their hearts to you, wishing I could say something to stop it. Well, _Dick_, I happen to be your_ best friend,_ so I'm going to say to you what everyone else is too afraid to: You are a senior in college, and yet you act like a _little boy_. Going around, doing girls like Alfred does chores is a disgusting, childish thing to do! Kori is the best thing that has ever happened to you, so for _godsakes_, Richard, be a man and go _find _her!"

Rachel looked at Gar in amazement. Richard looked as if he couldn't decide whether to hit him or hug him. He settled for neither, and ended up walking out the door, down the stairs, and to the garage.

Gar heard his motorcycle roar to life, and shook his head.

Collapsing in the chair across from Rachel's couch, he closed his eyes.

"Goodness Gracious, Gar, what the hell was that?" Rachel said, amazed.

"What the hell was what, Rachel?" He snapped. He felt fatigued, like finally telling Richard what he'd been yearning to since their freshman year of college, had drained all of the life out of him. All he wanted to do was sleep.

"The whole anger management thing! God, you're normally so chill and calm! Where the hell did that come from?"

He opened his eyes just enough to glare at her. "Neptune."

Smirking, she got up and walked over to him, settling down by his feet. "Well, Mr. Logan, there might be hope for you yet."

"What do you want, Rachel?"

"To apologize." He opened his eyes fully, looking down at her. Her hair, cut in its perfect shape, shined with the morning sunlight, and her indescribable eyes locked on his. Immediately, he knew that he'd forgive anything she said, and that if he kept looking at her, he very well might attack her.

Leaning down, he gently kissed her nose. "Apology accepted."

Rachel gave him a rare smile, looking pleased. "That was easier than I thought it would be."

"Sweet."

"I know I am," She smirked again, gently resting her chin on his knee.

"You know, we should probably get you a shirt," Gar said, blushing slightly. Now that Richard was gone, his Sudden Rachel Alert was starting to kick in.

"I don't have any here, and I don't want to go back to my place." She looked at him solemnly.

"Fine. You can wear mine, " He smiled.

"Your shirt?"

"No, my hair. Yes, my shirt," He smirked, ruffling her smooth hair.

"What are you going to wear?"

"I've got some stuff here." He told her. "Trust me, I often have reason to walk around shirtless."

She glared at him again, and he laughed.

Taking his shirt off and tossing it on her head, he rummaged through Richard's drawers until he found one of his old hoodies.

"This shirt smells like you," Rachel smiled, pressing her nose into one of the sleeves.

"Oh?" Gar asked, pulling the hoodie on. "And what do I smell like, exactly?"

"You smell like…evergreens. And animals."

"Thanks." He shook his head.

"I didn't mean like that!" Taking one of the fallen pillows, she threw it at him, frowning when he caught it and smirked. "It's the _good_ kind of animal smell. Like wildness and beauty and…freedom."

"You can smell freedom?"

"Shut up," She glared, sliding the shirt over her head. "I don't know why I bothered."

"The same reason I'm bothering to tell you that you look good in my shirt. Cause we like each other."

"Keith Urban? Really? And whoever said that?" Rachel blushed slightly, stretching out on the floor.

"It's pretty much implied, after you practically attacked me last night and this morning, and given how much you love my company." Garfield smirked, enjoying her denial.

"You're extremely mistaken."

"Am I?" In one move, he'd picked her up and was carrying her like a baby. "Because I really don't thinks so."

"Put me down this instant, Garfield Mark Logan!"

"I'm starting to regret telling you my name," He smiled at her. She swatted his shoulder.

"Put me down!"

An impish idea occurred to him. Bending his arms like he was about to set her down, he dropped her for a second, promptly catching her after she shrieked.

He laughed at her expression, which was complete and utter fury. "GAR!"

"What?"

"I cannot believe you did that! You let me fall, Grasstain!"

"C'mon, Rachel." He said, kissing her hair gently. "You have to know I'd never really let you fall. You're too breakable."

Glaring at him, she kicked his stomach, sending him crashing on the couch with her on top of him.

"Honestly, Rachel, what did I say about not tempting me?"

"GAR!"

**A.N. It was semi-horrible, but I'll live. **

**REVIEW!**


	7. September 15th, 2011

**A.N. You all make me so happy inside! Happy enough to do next-day updates, which I've been striving against. **

**So don't expect them a lot. **

**Anywhosen… it's time for Thank Yous with . I Am, the part of the chapter where CMCCIA comes out and says….thank you. (I watched Veggie Tales as a child, okay?)**

**Laughing faerie nymphs to TwilightRideForever, ContraryNonsense, Warhammr, RandomDalmation326, vamplover87.9, Lithim Nichole Albrechtm, ravenalterego, and PsychoticTwin, and yezib23 for following! **

**Sugar Nymphs to ravenalterego and PcychoticTwin for favoriteing! **

**And, of course, I wish attractive men to everyone who reviewed!(If you are a boy, I consequentially wish you a Shay Mitchell look-alike, and if you are The Wicked Witch Of The Westendorf –unless you go to ASA with me you won't know who that is- I wish you disaster. Ha. Ha.) **

**Harmonious Wolf: RIGHT? The thing about Rachel is that she does these little things that she doesn't think will tempt Gar, but they do. And then Gar has to work to control himself. And yeah! Richard and Kori…..I was a bit sniffly when I wrote that. But luckily, we'll all eventually have friends like Gar who will watch out for us. I'm sure you already do ****. Mine is my BFFF, her name is Matilde. **

**Katwizzle: Thanks! AWW, I'm glad! **

**Yezib23: Thanks! That means a lot to me that this story is changing your opinion. Check out some others, because they are some good ones floating around! **

**RandomDalmation326: I'm so glad! That's what I was trying to get! And it's not going to stop anytime soon! Trust me, I have a crapload of stuff planned! **

**ChrisC-cartoonluvr: THANKS! And all good things must come to an end, but this one's still going for a bit! **

**Saphira Veera: I know! I wanted to go into detail about his muscles and everything, but it wasn't a Rachel chapter, and I thought it might be kinda awkward for Gar to be admiring his own muscles, ya no? **

**Guest: THANKS! And here you go! Salutations. **

**Oh, and I go back to school on the twentieth, so expect more updates as that comes up.**

**I love you guys! There's going to be some Kid Flash/Jinx action in this, because I deeply adore them together, and I can't wait to write the two-shot I have planned for them. **

**And here is the chapter! **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**Friday, 9:20, Wayne Manor: **_

"D'you think we should…." Garfield started, drawing Rachel's attention away from the book she was reading.

"What?" Rachel raised an eyebrow, and Gar blushed, thinking he knew what she was imagining.

"Go help Richard look for Kori?" He finished, looking down, so he missed her face fall, ever so slightly.

"No. If we help, he'll never really get the message." She shook her head. "I wouldn't want your little gorilla attack to go to waste."

Playfully swatting at her hair, Gar put on an indignant face. "Dick needed to hear that!"

"Yeah, but I thought it'd be _me _saying it, not sweet, incorruptible Garfield!"

"I'm not sweet," He pouted. "And I'm definitely not incorruptible."

"Mhmm." Rachel turned her attention back to the book in her lap.

On the floor, Gar's phone started to ring. He dived off the couch and lunged for it, ignoring Rachel's incredulous expression and answering.

"Gar?" Wallace West's voice came through the speaker. Wally-although, because he did everything fast, he was nicknamed Flash- and Gar were in the same medical classes at St. Hillary's, and he was Gar's other best friend.

Gar found Flash easier to bond with than Richard, because Flash had sort of the same view of girls that Gar did. The only difference was that Flash believed you could still be with them and not take advantage, which Gar, frankly, thought was bull.

"Is there anyone else who would be picking up the phone?" He smirked, drawing Rachel's attention.

"Oh, funny, wise-one. Listen, she's getting worse. She won't leave me alone, man. I dunno what you did to this girl, but you did it well, because now she's obsessed with finding you."

"C'mon, Wally, I'm counting on you. Keep her away!" Gar pleaded, trying to ignore Rachel, who had set her book aside and was now fully focusing on him.

"Now's about the time when you're thinking, 'Hmm, I maybe shouldn't have hooked up with a girl who's INSANE, and that next time I'll do a background check, so my poor friend Flash doesn't have to keep crazy girls from attacking me every time I move!"

"Wally, you owe me a favor. And I didn't hook up with her!"

"Oh, so I'm Wally now? Someone's PMSing. And dude, I've repaid that favor like, three times over. And, I hate to break it to you, angel, but this what happens when you refuse to go to a campus party!"

"Crap." Gar cursed. "Man, you know Terra's crazy!"

"I know that, buddy, but does the general student body? Think about it."

"Wally, I can't do this now. I'm with Rachel at Wayne Manor. Come over as soon as you can, and we'll talk."

"Fine, I'll be th- wait a minute, who's Rachel?"

"Wally, don't do this-"

"NO WAY! YOU HAVE NOT BEEN DATING A GIRL WHO I DON'T KNOW, WITHOUT ME KNOWING!" Flash bellowed, so loud even Rachel could hear it. She blushed slightly, and Gar mouthed an apology.

"Wally-"

"Man, what did I_ just say _about _insane_ chicks?"

"She's not like Ter-"

"Oh, my god, she's got you whipped. " Gar could hear Flash cursing underneath his breath. "I'll be there in a sec. Hopefully you're still alive."

A small click told Gar that he'd hung up.

"So, who's Terra?" Rachel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This…crazy girl at St. Hillary's." Gar said vaguely.

Rachel nodded slowly, and Gar could tell she didn't believe him. "Can I see that phone?"

"Sure." He tossed it to her, and she began to input a number, putting the phone on speaker.

"Hello?" A dark voice came through the speakers.

"Jessi? I need you here in t-minus two minutes." Rachel said abruptly.

A sound like a huffing of breath came through the speakers, making Gar smile. "Where's 'here'?"

"Wayne Manor."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING AT WAYNE MANOR?" The girl on the other end-Gar thought her name was Jessi- yelled. He chuckled- her bellow was exactly like Flash's.

"That's irrelevant. The point is, I need you-"

"Rach, did I just hear a guy laugh? Is there a guy with you? Other than Richard?"

"Actually, Richard's not here at the moment, so-"

"Oh my god, you're laying in his bed. Rachel! God danggit, didn't I teach you better?"

At this, Gar couldn't help but give a full laugh. Jessi sounded exactly like Flash in female version.

"Jessi! I am in no way having laying with Gar in Richard's bed, but I need you-"

"Gar? Like, Garfield Logan? Oh my god, Rachel, he's the most incorruptible guy in town! That's like trying to kiss an angel!"

"I am not incorruptible!" Gar said, exasperated. "God, why does everyone say that?"

"Because you are, " Jessi informed him.

"Beside the point! Danggit, Jessi, Code Red and Yellow!" Rachel barked into the phone.

"I'm on my way. Be there in five. Seconds, I mean. I'm actually pretty close."

"Bye."

"You both better be fully clothed when I get there." Jessi hung up.

"So…what's Code Red and Yellow?" Gar asked slowly, looking up at where Rachel sprawled on the couch.

"Who's Terra?"

"This insane chick whose obsessed with me. What does it stand for?"

Rachel gave him a long, even look. "When you're ready to tell me the truth about who she is, I'm ready to listen. And Code Red and Yellow means that I've found Jessi a guy that's perfect for her."

"Who?" Gar asked dumbly.

"Your friend Flash, or Wally, or whatever the heck his name is. I think they'd be good together. And it'd be nice not to be the only outcast."

"What do you mean?" Garfield asked curiously.

"Look," Rachel said, sitting up. "You may not get this, but this town's divided into two classes. Rich and poor."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, the poor don't mix with the rich, and the rich don't mix with the poor. I was born in the rich class, but through bad decisions on my father's part, ended up in the poor half. That already makes me a freak. And then, I hang out with Richard and Kori, who have more money in their wallets than my entire block is worth, and you just don't do that." She put her tiny hands on his shirt to emphasize her point, and he shuddered with the feeling of her being so close. "You don't mix. When poor and rich do mix, it's usually a one-night stand. And now, I'm dating you, which is pretty much one of the worst things I could ever do. It's made me even more of a weirdo, which I don't usually mind. But lately…" She trailed off. "Lately, I've wanted someone else who's just as screwed as I am."

"You've got me." Gar pointed out, grabbing her wrists before she could pull her hands away.

"Gar…you know that everyone thinks of you as this incorruptible angel child? Some even think you're gay; you're such a gentleman when it comes to girls. When they hear about us, they'll think what Jessi thought: that I'm trying to bed you to get some kind of street cred. Or that I'm a gold digger. Or that you just want something to play with and as soon as I get boring, it's out with the old and end with the new." She cut off his protest. "Listen, nobody who's met you could say that, but how many people out there are actually going to meet you?"

Gar nodded slowly. "But if Jessi and Flash get together-"

"I'll have at least one person who doesn't think of me as a gold-digger or a whore. And you'll have one guy who'll get it. Although, I'm sure you already get it. Girls probably throw themselves at you, trying to be the one to take you."

"And the funniest part is, I haven't even had my first kiss. Like, on the lips. When I tell females that, they go insane."

"Well, not all girls are like that. But there's a lot out there, especially in this town." She shook her head and climbed off the couch, sitting on the floor next to him.

He knew what Rachel was saying. He'd experienced it before, girls just trying to hook up with him so that they could have the bragging rights. The rush of saying that it was them who broke him.

_Well,_ he thought bitterly,_ If anybody's going to get those rights, it's going to be Rachel._

_**Friday, 10:01 P.M., Wayne Manor: **_

"So, Dick and Kori elope, but then Kori feels guilty, so she up and disappears, and you have to get in Richard's face to make him realize that he should, um, I dunno, go _find_ her, and you've been sitting in his electronic room for at least eleven hours, waiting for him to show up with her?" Flash said, from where he and Jessi were curled in the armchair.

Gar had gone to get them when the doorbell rang, interrupting a heated make-out session that surprised even him. Yes, he knew that Flash did everything fast, and that if he didn't want to marry the girl within the first five minutes of knowing her, it wasn't going to work, but honestly, that was fast even for him.

Rachel had only smirked, a satisfied expression on her face and turned a page in her book.

"Yep." Gar said.

"This sounds like something off of a soap opera," Jessi said dryly. "I feel like this should be called 'The Swiss Army Romance' or something mushy like that."

"I knew there was a reason I liked her," Flash mouthed to Gar when Jessi wasn't looking, smiling broadly.

Gar grinned back, happy that Rachel's plan had worked, even though the two where extremely different.

Flash was tall and thin, with bright red hair, blue eyes that sparkled with laughter, and perfect tan skin, spread over muscles that completed the vision of manliness. Gar wasn't gay, but even he had to admit that Flash was extremely handsome.

Just not, you know, in that way.

Jessi, on the other hand, was completely different. She was taller than most girls, including Rachel, by a good inch, and shorter than Flash by the same. Her hair had been a dyed a shocking, vibrant pink, but it went magnificently with her pale skin. Bright pink flushes, the same as her hair, were constantly showing, especially underneath her eyes, which were surprisingly slanted, like a cat's.

She was very beautiful, Gar reflected, but not what he'd thought of as Flash's type.

"So, Gar…" Flash started, and with a pang, Gar knew that they'd reached the part of the conversation where Terra came in. "She won't leave me alone. She keeps asking where you are and if she can come see you." Flash shook his head. "Normally, I'd be flattered, but this is just getting out of control."

"Alright, so is anybody going to tell me who Terra actually is?" Rachel burst out. "Gar's been giving me half-answers, and it's pissing me off."

"She's from this tiny country in Europe called Markovia. She started at St. Hillary's sophomore year, and she's been infatuated with our dear friend, Gar-" Flash patted Gar on the head. "Since day one."

"I'll kill her." Jessi said flatly.

"Woah, Jess. Calm down." Flash admonished, ruffling her pink curls. "Although, anger does look very sexy on you."

Jessi reached out a hand to swat him, but quick as a- well, a flash, he'd grabbed it softly and planted a lingering kiss on the smooth skin.

"Honestly, Flash, would you mind waiting till there's no one else in the room before you grab her?" Gar scoffed.

"I dunno, Gar, it's kinda hard to contain yourself when dealing with such a beautiful woman as this one," Flash murmured, never taking his eyes away from her.

"Oh, c'mon," Rachel said in a monotone. "I need to talk to you anyway."

"Okay." Gar said, although on the inside, he was sighing. He knew exactly what Rachel wanted to talk about, and it was the last thing he ever wanted to discuss.

Nevertheless, he and Rachel left Flash and Jessi to it and went to the hallway.

"So, who is Terra?" Rachel asked, crossing her arms.

"My ex." Gar huffed out.

"Your ex?"

"Yeah. Remember how I told you about those girls who just want to be the first to break me? Yeah, she was the worst."

"What did she do?"

"I don't want to talk about it, okay? I told her exactly what I told you, that I didn't want to. She just couldn't leave it alone."

Rachel stepped forward hesitantly. "_Exactly_ what you told me?"

"You're the first girl who's ever asked why, not out of whining, but out of seriousness. You're the first girl who's ever gotten a true answer. And you're also the first that has ever actually tested me."

"What do you mean?"

"You're only my second girlfriend. Terra was the first. And even though I've had girls throw themselves at me, it's never been a problem."

Rachel placed her hands on his chest again. "Gar, I trust you."

Gar shook his head. "C'mon, let's go get Jessi and Flash before they break something."

Just as he grasped the doorknob, the wooden door flew open, and Jessi appeared, pulling Flash by the hand.

Gar took in their appearances with a glance and shook his head.

Flash's shirt was on backwards, the buttons on Jessi's jacket were inside out. Her hair was messed up, and she was wearing a scarf that she hadn't had when she first came in.

"I have important business that I need to accomplish with Jessica's help, so I must take my leave. Good Day, all," Flash rushed out, before dragging a laughing Jessi down the stairs.

"Rachel, I think your whole 'Code Red and Yellow' thing worked almost too well." Gar laughed, pulling Rachel with him back into the room.

"Judging by the state of the couch, you might be right." Rachel smiled, pointing at the sofa cushions all over the floor.

"Flash," Gar sighed, nudging a cushion with his foot. "What am I going to do with you?"

"So what do you wanna do?" Rachel asked, collapsing on the nearest pillow.

"I'm good just being with you," He smiled, laying down next to her and kissing the top of her forehead.

"Sometimes, Gar," She groaned, looking at him. "You're almost too sweet."

"I try." He smirked.

And then, his phone chiming ruined the moment.

Flipping it open, he groaned. "What is it, Richard?"

"Dude, I found her."

**A.N. Sorry, but I'm deeply in love with the Jinx and Kid Flash ship. I love them SOOO Much! Literally, I'm about to go buy the comic books with them in it. **

**REVIEW!**


	8. September 16th, 2011

**A.N. Hi. **

**My brothers have been out all day trying to get Chik-Fil-A sandwiches since 10:30 in the mornin'- yeah, yeah, I'm surrounded by imbeciles-so I though I'd use the quiet to type! **

**Virtual dolphins to BlondeBunnyBoo, EvilBewareWeHaveWaffles43, Heyyyy101, kassy1536, and rephiamluvers123, the wonderful people who favorited! **

**Twirls of strawberry sour strings to deon377, EvilBewareWeHaveWaffles43-don't ya'll just love that screen name?-, XxSupernaturalQueenxX, and rephiamluvers123 for following! **

**And, as always, gallons of the best eggnog to the people who reviewed! **

**Harmonious Wolf: Glad you think so! I tried to dig into my funny side when writing them. And I know, right? How inconsiderate! AND OH MY MOTHER TRUCKING GOD YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW! If you think Dick's bad now, wait til you finish this chapter! **

**Katwizzle: Thanks! And yayyy, a fellow Flinx lover! And trust me, this chapter is going to be….shocking. **

**RandomDalmatian326: Trust me, this isn't the last you've seen of Terra. She'll actually come in soon, but for now, expect a lot of Terra Teasers! And I'm so glad you think Gar is sweet. I tried to write him like that! And I'm sure Rachel would smile at you for saying that! And thanks! Yet ANOTHER Flinx fan! Whoooo! And trust me, dear reader, Dick is going to earn his nickname this chappie. And patience, young grasshopper. All will be revealed in time. **

**I'm. Only. Human. Dude: thanks! I chuckled when I wrote that, too! Aww, thanks! And I know! Some of my fav couples! **

**Yezib23: Right? They're the pinnacle of awesomeness! **

**Alright, so all fellow Rob/Star lovers: **

**This chapter might kill you. Fair warning. **

**I do not own Teen Titans, but as soon as my master plan to capture all five of the original Titans succeeds, I shall be able to nefariously bargain with DC Comics. **

**Unfortunately, Those people just don't understand pretty pretty pleases . **

**So far, I've got Star locked in my basement- which is probably close to collapsing in on itself, and I'm close to catching Cyborg. **

**But anywhosen… **

**BACK AT THE FARM **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**Saturday, 10:15 p.m., Logan Lodge, Gar's bedroom: **_

"He does not love me as I love him," Kori said suddenly.

Gar jerked his head up, staring at the auburn haired girl where she was sprawled on his bed, his jaw touching the top of his oak desk across from her.

Kori had refused to talk for at least a day, ever since they had brought her back to Logan Lodge, Gar's parent's house.

Logan Lodge was a huge, tidy mansion. It was more of a manor than a lodge, honestly.

But the best part about Logan Lodge, to Gar, was that it was the one place he could call home. Walking the halls, sitting at the table, lying in his bed, he felt closer to his parents than he ever felt anywhere else.

"Richard?" Gar asked her, leaning across the table.

Rachel was at her apartment with Dick, because Kori had made it obvious that she was not going to talk with him there. Gar had brought her to Logan Lodge because….something about the grounds, the beautiful old brick buildings, the lilting green willows….made people want to talk. Gar had never told a lie at the Lodge, and he'd lived there for more than twenty years, ever since he'd been born.

This place had always been home, no matter how many times he and his parents had traveled.

"Yes. Richard. He does not wish to be married to me." Kori said it with the sad certainty of one who knew she was speaking the truth.

"Kori, Richard….he's not use to feeling how he feels about you. He doesn't know what to do in situations like this, because he's never been in one before. He's never actually loved anyone besides his parents, Alfred, and Bruce before. You're new for him. New….and scary."

"Why did he not come after me?" Kori's green eyes widened in distress, and hurt creeped into her voice. "I waited. I thought he would!"

"Kori, he did come after you," Gar said, knowing that she'd meant something totally different.

"You forced him too, Garfield," She whispered. "I am not stupid. If you had not been so kind, Dick would have left me. He might have mailed me divorce papers. But he never would have physically come after me, if not for you."

"He didn't know he should have." Gar whispered back to her.

Kori sighed, placing her head on Gar's pillow.

"Why is he so complicated?" She murmured.

"Because. Simple things are never worth it." He grabbed her hand and squeezed. "And Richard's worth it, Kori. I promise."

Kori nodded her head and raised it up, tears dripping down her tanned face. "Gar…do you have any of the….I believe it is called ice-cream?"

Gar chuckled. "Yeah, Kori."

He called for the butler, Lucas on the house phone near his bedside table.

Lucas picked up immediately. "Yes, Master Logan?"

"Two bowls of ice-cream, please, Lucas. And don't call me Master Logan. It's Gar, or if you have to, Master Gar. Please." Gar smiled.

"As you wish, Master Gar. Do you have any flavor preferences?"

"You know what, screw that, call me Gar. Just Gar. One mint with caramel squares, please, and a-" He mouthed '_what do you want?'_ to Kori.

_A Rocky-Road Fudge, please, _she mouthed back with a smile.

"-a Rocky Road Fudge, if it's not too much trouble."

"Would you like whipped cream with that, Master G- I mean, Gar?"

"Lucas, do you even have to ask?"

A chuckle came from Lucas's side. "It will be up in a moment."

"Thank you." Gar hung up, smiling at Kori. "Feel better?"

"Very much, Friend Gar," She smiled back, blinking away her tears.

Gar chuckled again. He found it pretty cool that even though she'd been away for around eight years, she still had her Tameranean way of speaking.

The house phone rang again. Picking it up, Gar rolled his eyes comically, making Kori laugh. "Yes, Lucas?"

"Gar, there is a very beautiful girl standing with Master Richard in front of the gate, demanding to be let in. What do you wish me to do?"

Gar laughed out loud again. "She is beautiful, isn't she? Let them in, please. Oh, and I need two more ice-creams. One butter-pecan for Richard, and, um…." He looked pleadingly at Kori.

_Friend Rachel enjoys the cookie-dough of the chocolate chip, _Kori mouthed to him.

"-A chocolate-chip cookie dough, please."

"As you wish," Lucas hung up.

Gar turned back to Kori. "The life of a billionaire." He huffed, pretending exhaustion.

Kori laughed again, a bright peal that lightened Gar's heart.

She didn't laugh like Rachel, who when she actually laughed, out of happiness, not sarcasm, could change his day.

Lucas's quiet voice came through his mahogany door, startling him out of a blush-worthy fantasy. "Gar, I have the ice creams, and the beautiful young woman and Master Richard are here. Do you want them in your bedroom, or shall I direct them to your private sitting room?"

"The sitting room, please," Garfield called back, noting how Kori went pale when Lucas said Richard's name. "I want to talk to her."

"As you wish."

Footsteps echoed outside as Gar took Kori's hands, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "He loves you, Kori. Remember that."

"I….do not think I can do this, Friend Gar," She muttered, turning even paler.

"Kori. You and Richard….it's like, his entire life he's been riding bicycles, and then suddenly someone gives him a Mercedes. He doesn't know how to deal with it. You guy's relationship is so new and different, he doesn't know how to be the gentleman you need. The gentleman he wants to be for you. Just…remember that."

"I shall, Friend Gar." Leaning over, she quickly kissed Gar's cheek. "You are a good friend."

It was totally a friendly kiss -nothing like his kisses with Rachel- but it still filled him with warmth. He'd been able to help her, and maybe save her relationship with Richard.

_Good job, Gar,_ he congratulated himself.

"C'mon, Kori." He said, standing and extending a hand to her. "Let's go talk with our future spouses."

_**Saturday, 10:42 p.m., Logan Lodge, Gar's private sitting room: **_

"This is delicious ice-cream," Rachel commented, licking a hunk of cookie dough off of her spoon.

"It's made here at the Lodge. Georgette is a miracle-worker," Gar told her, smiling.

"Georgette? Is she your cook?"

"Uh-huh. And the woman has god-given talent for ice-cream." He glanced over at Richard and Kori, who sat stiffly side by side, refusing to even acknowledge each other's existence.

"You have cows on the property?" Rachel asked." How big is this place?"

"Fifteen acres." Gar said, playfully flicking her hair and taking a huge bite out of his ice cream. "And it's technically not it Gotham. It's at least five miles out, to get the land."

"What else do you have on here, goats?" Richard snapped. "Is this the freaking Newton Farm?"

"A few," Gar said, glaring right back.

"What are you talking about?"

"There's one goat. His name is Abner. And he has a wife named Cecelia and five kids, Marietta, Stephan, Nicklaus, Bernadette, Costas, and Courtney."

"You named your goats?" Rachel asked.

"You named your goat _Abner?_" Kori said, glancing up from the floor for the first time.

"That's retarded." Richard scoffed.

"Richard!" Kori exclaimed. "Gar is your best friend! And there are some who actually suffer from that disease-"

"Yeah, well, sucks to be them." Richard growled.

"Sheesh, Richard. Keep the dick in your name and out of your personality," Rachel said, getting up from where she was curled on the floor next to Gar and moving towards the bookshelves.

"Yeah, man, what is your problem?" Gar asked. "All this week, you've been somebody else."

"Nothing, man." Richard seethed, turning his head.

The house phone on the table rang again, and Gar answered it, still glaring at Richard.

"Yes, Lucas?"

"Gar, there is a man and a woman at the door. They wish to see you."

"What do they look like?" He said abruptly.

"The lady…had pink hair. The man is fidgeting, and has bright blue eyes."

"Send them to the sitting room, please."

"As you wish."

Hanging up, he turned to Kori, ignoring Richard. "Flash and Jessi are here."

"Why'd you invite them?" Richard barked.

"I _didn't_ invite them, but Flash is my friend. He's free to show up at the Lodge anytime he wants. This is _my_ house, Dick."

"No, it's the house your parents left you when they died, after saving your pathetic butt." Richard sneered.

Rachel dropped the book she was holding.

Gar noticed, even in his fury, that she had been reading _The Old Man and The Sea_, one of his all-time favorites, and that her knuckles had gone white.

Kori gasped.

Gar bolted up so fast, he knocked his chair over. "_What did you just say?" _

"I said, this isn't your house. It's the house your parents left you when the kicked the bucket, after saving your-"

"I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID!" Gar roared, clenching his fists. "I'm just hoping you care enough about our friendship not to mean it."

"Why? So you can avoid conflict?" Richard said, getting up as well. "So you can go along, dreaming your nice little dirty fantasies about Rachel, and never have to be a man? God, Gar, you've been like this for forever! _Your parents are dead. _No matter what you do, nothing will change the fact that they _are d-"_

Gar lunged across the room, tackling Richard to the wooden floor and repeatedly punching him. He knocked aside the table, hearing the ice-cream bowl that Richard had been eating out of shatter.

"WHAT THE HELL, MAN?" Richard said, speaking through a mouthful of blood.

"HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?" Gar said, kicking him solidly in the stomach.

"COME ON, MAN! DON'T BE A PRISS! GROW A THICKER SKIN AND MAN-"

Garfield pinned him to the floor again. "Don't you dare finish that sentence, Richard Grayson. _Don't. You. Dare."_

Rachel came out of whatever shock she'd been in and pulled Gar off of Richard. "That's enough!"

Turning to Gar, she grabbed his clenched fists. "You need to calm down." She murmured, looking deep into his eyes.

And slowly, each fist unclenched.

"Good," She murmured, although Gar still felt murderous. "And _You," _She growled, spinning around to face Richard. "Garfield Mark Logan is already twice the man you will ever be, Dick Grayson, so shut up."

Gar wiped the blood off of his nose from where Dick had nicked it.

"You are a Clorbag Varblerneilk, Richard Grayson," Kori whispered. "I cannot believe I ever loved you."

At that moment, when Dick turned on Kori with hurt eyes, the sitting room door flew open, revealing a smiling Flash and Jessi.

"We're engaged!" Jessi squealed.

And then they both took in the scene: furntiture and glass shards everywhere, Dick and Gar bleeding and Kori close to crying.

"Engaged?" Kori whispered.

"As of this 3:15 this afternoon. Jeez, what happened here?" Flash said incredulously.

"Richard earned his nickname." Gar seethed.

"Engaged? But you have known each other for only a day," Kori said, puzzled.

"Yeah, Kori, but something clicked. She's the one for me, I know it."

"You barely know her, Flash," Rachel said suddenly.

"I can spend my entire life getting to know the details," Flash said dismissively. "But I know enough to know that she's it."

"And another one bites the dust." Richard smirked.

Gar grabbed the nearest heavy thing- in this case, a first-edition of _Of Mice And Men_, and threw it at his face.

"Congrats, guys." He smiled, ignoring the stream of swear words coming from the corner. "When's the wedding?"

"We were thinking….in maybe a year," Jessi smiled.

"Show me the ring!" Kori squealed, all thoughts of Richard gone.

Jessi excitedly flashed the huge array of black diamonds.

"If we ever get married, Gar, I want a black diamond ring like that," Rachel's voice came in his ear.

Shivers ran down his spine. "I think you mean, _when_ we get married. And I'll keep that in mind."

Grabbing her hand, he lead her to the table and picked up the house phone.

"Master Gar?"

"What did I say about the names, Lucas? And I'm going to need one mint-caramel, one chocolate-chip cookie dough, one Rock Road Fudge, and two strawberry ice-creams," He said, wincing as his nose gave forth another wave of blood. "And a first aid kit, please."

**A.N. Yeah. So, Dick and Kori are broken up-FOR NOW, I PROMISE THEY'LL GET BACK TOGETHER EVENTUALLY- and Flash and Jessi are engaged. **

**Trust me, their wedding is going to be full of shenanigans. **

**Anywhosen… **

**REVIEW! **


	9. September 17th and 18th, 2011

**A.N. Hi! **

**So, a lot of what happened last chapter surprised me. **

**that, unfortunately, it is possible to get Chik-Fil-A sandwiches at one in the morning, when the actual diner is closed and you have to buy them from a shady looking individual behind a Wal-Mart for ten bucks a pop. **

**That Dick and Gar can have two huge major fights and still be buds afterwards. **

**That SO MANY PEOPLE REVIEWED! **

**SERIOUSLY, you guys made my month. **

**In fact, I feel horrible saying this, but I can't do the shoutouts like I normally do. **

**You know, where I type up who reviewed and give them a personalized message? **

**Yeah, no. **

**So, Thank Yous with Call – Me – Crazy . Cuz I Am are going to look slightly different this chapter.**

**You guys may have already noticed that I sent out PMS, no, not Pre Menstral System, guys- Private Messages- to almost everyone who reviewed? Sorry if I missed you, it wasn't on purpose. My computer is weird, so it might not have sent them. **

**Well, those were all different. Nobody got the same one. I tried to personalize them to what you said in your review. **

**So, here's what this'll look like: **

**Beautiful dreams and peaceful days to Warhammr, mischievous5100, 506thpir,purpledeathbutterfly, and 19Gaara19 for favoriting! **

**Dammit, I still can't spell that right. **

**Bright sunshine and twittering birds to mischievous5100, XxBrownEyedGirlxX, Amenson, roxie98, purpledeathbutterfly, and purpleraven23 for following! **

**The virtual baked good of your choice to Harmonious Wolf, Densharr, Im. Only. Human. Dude, yezib23, 506thpir, MelonLord28, Guest no 1, RandomDalmatians326, Amenson, Chickie-Poo, Riinaya, purpleraven23, eldritchbob, Guest no 2, a friend of old, and 19Gaara19 for reviewing! **

**And of course, special thanks to , the amazing individual who didn't get mad at me and let me put their shoutout in the next chapter cuz last chapter I was bogus and didn't. **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**Sunday, 8:09 p.m., Logan Lodge, Gar's bedroom:**_

"What do you want, Richard?" Gar growled into the phone, trying not to wake the sleeping Rachel sprawled out in his old sweats on his bed. He'd been fighting back chuckles since that morning, when she'd asked if she could borrow his clothes. He'd forgotten how tiny she was, eating or no eating, and his sweats practically drowned her willowy figure.

And, truth be told, he was grateful to the puddles of clothing around her, because it kept him from looking in places he shouldn't. Her usual wardrobe, to his dismay, consisted of tight pieces that didn't help his will.

"Gar, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said those things. I was just….man, I don't know what I was. But I know what I am now, and that's sorry." Richard's voice held a note of desperation.

Gar sighed. He knew, no matter how pissed he was at Richard, he'd forgive him. Richard and Flash- and by extension, Jessi- were the closest things to siblings he had, and he couldn't not forgive him.

"It's fine, man." He said, smiling softly as Rachel whimpered in her sleep, a grin growing on her features.

"Thanks, dude. And….I need some advice."

Gar sighed again. Of course, Dick needed advice. Why else would he call Gar and apologize?

"What do you need?"

"Help with Kori." Richard sighed.

"Dude, I dunno if-is there someone with you?" Gar asked, hearing a light giggle that was certainly not Richard from his end of the call.

"No, Babs is-God, Babs, stop _doing _that-"

"Richard. Why. Is. Babs. There?" Gar said evenly, trying not to lose his temper.

Barbara Gordon was the beautiful rebel daughter of the Gotham Police Comissoner, and she and Dick had had an on-and-off thing before he'd met Kori.

Only, Gar thought despairingly. Maybe they weren't as over as he'd thought.

"She's helping me with-Look, dude, this isn't about Babs." Richard sighed. Gar could almost see Babs's baby doll pout. "What do you think I should do about Kori?"

"Apologize. And then throw in a bunch of crap from a romcom or two, possibly sing her a song."

"How the hell do you know what a romcom is, Gar?" Richard laughed. "Babs, stop _that right now. _Oh god, I swear…."

"Richard John Grayson, tell me you are not talking to Babs right now." Gar said evenly.

"No, I'm not. Bruce invited her over. He wants me to bond with- Babs, I can't help you with th-Look, Gar, I'll call you later."

"Sure." Gar sighed, hanging up.

He tried to close his eyes and nap like Rachel, but the thoughts buzzing around in his head stopped him. What was Babs doing at Wayne Manor? Why was Bruce pushing her and Dick together?

And_ what the hell _was that ringing noise in his ear?

Turning around, he saw that it belonged to the house phone, which was beeping red.

Tossing down a pillow, he grabbed for it.

"Hello?"

"Master Gar?" Lucas's calm, quiet voice said.

"Is there another owner of this house?" Gar smirked.

"Of course, not, sir," Lucas laughed lightly. "The ballroom has recently been cleared and restored to its former protection."

"It has? You mean, _the_ ballroom?"

"Is there another ballroom, sir?"

Gar chuckled at Lucas's quiet joke, shaking his head at the thought of the old ballroom.

The Logan Lodge Ballroom was a huge room with a cavern ceiling, balconies, huge windows that stretched from the floor all the way up the eleven foot walls to the ceiling that was painted a beautiful rich green.

It was located on the highest floor of the Lodge, and it had not been used since before Gar's parents had died, since he was…..wow, since he was six and a half.

"Why'd you have to restore it, Lucas?" He whispered.

"Master Gar, the ballroom had not been used in more than sixteen years. There was all manner of accumulated filth, along with the webs of many insects, and what appeared to have once been a small animal. The moment you first re-claimed the estate, I started the cleaning process, and we are now finally finished. "

"That's amazing, Lucas," Gar grinned, watching Rachel turn in her sleep.

"Yes, Master Gar- it, in fact, is what I believe you would call 'epic'?"

Gar laughed out loud, and then winced as Rachel stretched herself awake.

"Gar?" She said blearily.

"Yes, Lucas, it is epic," Gar said, giving Rachel a smile that she sleepily returned.

"And now that you have-excuse me-female companionship," Lucas coughed as Gar laughed again. "I thought that perhaps….you could make use of it."

"You're amazing, Lucas," Gar grinned. "Honestly, where would I be without you?"

"With another, perhaps less capable, butler."

Gar chuckled. "Later, Lucas. You're the best."

Hanging up, he turned to Rachel. "C'mon, there's something I want to show you."

_**Sunday, 8:11 p.m., Logan Lodge, The Ballroom: **_

Gar laughed as Rachel's jaw dropped open, although he felt like gaping himself.

The ballroom looked like the one in _Beauty and The Beast_ on ecstasy.

Lucas had described it to only a quarter of its actual glory. Russet and golden curtains spread along the windows, letting in only a sliver of the night sky, that look exactly like the one painted on the dome ceiling above them.

The floor sparkled and shined, along with the cream paint on the walls, making a dazzlingly beautiful scene.

"God, Gar," Rachel breathed as they stepped inside. "Does your family work for the mafia or something?"

Gar shook his head. "The ballroom was built by the first Logan to live here, like three millennia ago."

"That's insane." She said, moving slightly across the floor. "That's really crazy."

"Although, I think my great-uncle Jefferson might've been a secret spy for the Russian government, if that helps." Gar smiled as Rachel swatted at him.

Grabbing her hand, he gently sank onto a bow, enjoying the flash of surprise and the red blush that spread across her pale features. "May I have this dance?"

"Not if you plan to be all cliché and disgusting with it," Rachel smirked. "I do have standards."

"So 'Shut up and dance with me, idiot?' would've been better?"

"You're hopeless," Rachel sighed, although the smile in her eyes as she took his other hand gave her away. "Absolutely pathetic."

"Shut up and dance with me, idiot." Gar smirked, dodging the swat she sent his way.

"I don't even know how to dance." She said softly. "I've never really been the _dancing_ type."

" Plotting and prophesying total destruction is more your speed?"

" Ha ha." She glared. "The point is, I probably shouldn't do this."

"C'mon, I'll teach you." Gar smiled. Lifting her up, he gently set her on his shoes, giving her an extra inch of height so that they were eye to eye, brown locking on deep blue.

He placed her hands around his necking, noticing how they locked together perfectly, forming a little ring around his neck. He put his hands around her waist, drawing her closer and blushing as Sudden Rachel Alert took over his body. He said a quick prayer and slowly started moving.

"You know there's no music, right, Gar?" Rachel smirked, looking deep into his eyes, unaware that most of his body had turned to a jelly.

"Just being near you is enough."

Rachel made a scathing noise. "Honestly."

Gar smiled lightly. "So, you know how I'm studying to be a doctor?"

"Yes." Rachel replied, her chest brushing Gar's as she breathed.

"Well, there's this thing…..where I could sign up to be an army medic for a couple months. Just to see."

"What?"

"You know how some law students join that program where they spend a semester in Japan? It's kinda like that."

"An _active_ war zone?"

"Yeah. And I signed up." Gar said quietly. "I think it'll be great."

"Aren't you afraid? About…getting blown up or something?"

"No. I'm upset about being away from you for so long, but…."

"When do you leave?" Rachel asked.

"In….about a week."

Gar heard her catch her breath.

"That's soon."

"Yeah." Gar agreed. "But don't worry. I plan on spending every second possible near you." He kissed the top of her ear.

"Sometimes, I wish you could stop being sweet and kind and romantic and such an angel child for two seconds. Jeez, did your mother have an affair with Gabriel or something?"

"First off, I don't think the Arch Angel goes around getting mortal women pregnant. It'd kinda go against the whole 'perfect' thing. And secondly, fine. I'll be rude." Gar paused for a minute as he and Rachel gently swayed. "I want to meet your dad."

Rachel stiffened in his arms. "No, you don't. He's on crack. And an alcoholic. Trust me, he's the last person you ever want to meet."

"C'mon. I want to meet him, get his blessing. At least have him know we're together."

"Gar, your innocence is showing." Rachel teased, resting her head in the crook between his neck and his shoulder and making shockwaves run through his body. Her hair smelled like black vanilla and raspberries, and every time he took a breath, the scent overwhelmed his nostrils. Her hair rubbed against the sensitive skin on his neck every time she moved, a sensation he found….amazing. "Even if we did go visit him- I'm not saying we will, but if we did- he probably wouldn't be sober enough to string together two words, much less give his approval on our relationship."

"Still. I think it'd be….nice."

"_Nice._" Rachel repeated, staring into him. "The adjective you use to describe a potential visit to my father, a drug addict and brutal alcoholic, is _nice._"

"I think it would bring us closer." Gar insisted. "Come on. Pretty pretty please?"

He gave her a look similar to a wide-eyed, innocent kitten's look, pleading written all over his features.

Rachel sighed and moved her head from his shoulder. "And if we go, what do I get in return?"

"I'll owe you one?" Gar tried.

Rachel rewarded him with a laugh, one of her real ones, one not laced with sarcasm or bitterness. "Please. You'll owe me twenty."

_**Monday, 10:01 a.m., Rachel's father's drug house: **_

"I really don't think we should do this, Gar," Rachel said nervously as he pulled up to the rickety old apartment building.

"C'mon, Rachel. Don't do this now." He sighed as he parked the car. Rachel had been trying on and off to stop the visit since he'd woken up that morning.

"Gar, I'm serious. I really, really, really don't think we should do this."

Gar looked over at her. "What's bothering you about it?"

"That….I guess that once you meet him, you'll stop caring about me. That you'll see him every time you look at me."

"_Rachel._" Gar sighed. "How long is it going to take you to get this?"

Leaning over the middle compartment of the red Bentley, he took her small hand and looked her in the eyes. "No matter _what_ happens, nothing could stop me from caring about you. When I look at you, I see_ you_, not your crazy father. That's how it's going to be for forever, so get used to it."

Rachel looked at him, a new vulnerability in her eyes, and slowly nodded.

Together, they stepped out of the car and walked to the door of the despondent old apartment house.

_**Monday, 10:04 a.m., Rachel's father's apartment: **_

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" A drunken yell pierced the dark as Gar closed the door behind them.

"Toldja he'd be out of it," Rachel murmured, shaking her head.

"SO NOW YOU COME BACK! NOW THAT SHE'S GONE, YOU COME!" Rachel's father bellowed.

Gat inhaled and then coughed. The smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke was heavy in the air, along with the smell of urine.

Newspapers lay scattered all over the tiny frame, cigarette stubs lining the floor. Drawers were pulled out of the one dresser, the refrigerator lay open….it was, Gar thought, like something from _Hoarders_.

"Dad, this is Garfield," Rachel started, hopelessness echoing in her voice.

"Dad. That's what she used to call me. My little Rachel." Mr. Roth whispered, his voice laced with sudden brokenness. "She left me, Rells. She left me just like you did. And _it's all your fault._"

"_Rells?"_ Rachel whispered, obviously in pain.

"He thinks you're your mother." Gar said quietly.

"BOTH OF THE WOMEN I LOVED, GONE!" He yelled, stumbling over to them.

"Dad-"

"My little girl." He said softly. "God, I hope she found someone. A man who'll take care of her. I pray every night that she's gotten happy, Rells. I pray it, but I don't think God's gonna listen to me. Then again, she left, like you did. Maybe she found it. I didn't." Stumbling drunkenly away, he coughed and slammed a door.

"Gar." Rachel said, and to his surprise, she sounded close to tears. "I want to leave."

_**Monday, 10:24 a.m., Gotham Communitly Park: **_

"Rachel-" Gar started, sensing the fury and hurt emanating from where she sat next to him on the park bench.

"_Don't." _Rachel said, the single word laced with enough venom to kill someone.

"But-"

"I SAID, DON'T." She seethed. "WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE?"

"I thought-"

A tear slowly ran down her cheek. "No, you didn't think. How could you have? I _told_ you we shouldn't have gone, I_ said_ it was a bad idea. And you couldn't listen."

"I was trying to do a good thing!"

"No. You were proving yourself to be an ignorant, prideful child! Why couldn't you have understood?"

"I _do_ understand." Gar insisted.

"NO YOU _DON'T" _Rachel screamed. "YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY IS DEAD!"

Gar felt and looked as if she had slapped him.

"Rachel." He said slowly, hearing the pain in his voice. "My parents are dead. But I have Lucas, who has been there for me since I first came back, a confused, sad little kid. I have Flash and Richard who are my brothers in everything but blood. I have Georgette, who taught me how to cook and how to treat a girl. And I _thought_ I had you." He shook his head. "Guess I was wrong."

"Gar-"

"I'll call Richard and tell him to give you a ride back to Wayne Manor." He choked out, feeling ashamed at the hot tears building up behind his eyelids.

Anger boiled up in him as he walked away. Anger at everything except for Rachel, funnily enough. He wanted to punch something, to scream or yell.

But instead, he took out his phone and dialed, waiting for the pick-up he knew would eventually come.

"Garry?"

He took a deep breath. "Hey, Terra."

**A.N. Ooooo, why did Gar call Terra? **

**REVIEW for me please? **

**I start school tomorrow, so I won't be able to update as often. However, I may update faster if y'all press the pretty button! **


	10. Part Two: Be The One, December 23rd 2012

**A.N. Hi guys! This section is called Be The One, based on the song by the Fray, which I'd encourage you to listen to. **

**I'm alive! **

**I started school on Monday, so writing was hard for me ****, but I'll try to make up for it with a really long, really upsetting chapter for all BBRae lovers. **

**Tee hee. **

**You might've noticed I sent out PMs again to all my wonderful reviewers? **

**Yeah, the necessity of that made my month. **

**When I have to send out PM shoutouts for reviews because I can't fit them onto a page? **

**Twice?**

**It's really, really, really amazing. **

**Bounties of the virtual candy of your choice to JustHereForTheStories, I'm Not A Princess, totally-jinxed, and jaytennis for following! **

**Roomfuls of laughter to Nkcandygirl, joxxmarie, jaytennis, and b13 for favoriting! **

**I SERIOUSLY HAVE GOT TO LEARN HOW TO SPELL THAT WORD, DAMMIT! **

**Anywhosen….. **

**I wish true love and happiness to HollywoodUndead4Eva, MelonLord28, ****Ju5t An0th3r H3d63h06, Guest, RavenGagaLover, RandomDalmatian326, waterpokemon, jaytennis, bs13, xSaffire55x, I'm. Only. Human. Dude., a friend of old, mischevious5100, and Katwizzle for reviewing! **

**Warning: This chapter contains a make-out scene! WOOT WOOT!**

**This chapter is going to take place in December of 2012, so about a year and three months from last chappie, kay? Expect time jumps between every ten chapters, and a few between fivers. **

**Oh, and TRUST ME, IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK! **

**This next set of chapter is going to kill me. **

**What with a ruined wedding, a pissed off girl, a steamy scene, and a whole lotta drama, this is like writing a soap opera. **

**Except, fun, fulfilling, and a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. **

**Soaps are more for Sunday mornings.**

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**Monday, 6:01 p.m., Wayne Manor: **_

_The Families of Logan and Markov announce, with great joy and anticipation, that Garfield Mark Logan and Terra Jeanette Markov shall be joined in holy matrimony on the twenty-fifth of December, at the Trichinous Ballroom, at two o'clock. Please join us on this special day to show your support and well wishes for the new couple- _

A tear fell on the thick cream paper just before Rachel tossed it away.

"He's getting _married?_" She whispered, every fiber in her being begging for it to be false.

"He's getting married to _Terra?_" Vic added. "Man, I thought she was crazy?"

Richard cursed.

Jessi said nothing, only putting a comforting arm around Rachel's shoulders.

Jessi, Flash, Richard, Kori, Vic, Xavier, Karen, Adam, Joseph, Jade, Kole, Argent, Isiah, and Roy, pretty much every friend Rachel had ever had, were all holed up in the bedroom she'd been given at Wayne Manor, breaking the news to her.

"December twenty-fifth? Guys, that's-" Adam, the resident math genius, did some quick figuring. "In two days!"

_Two days?_ Joseph signed. _That's not a lot of time at all_!

"I know! How are we 'posed to get Rach ready to homewreck them in two days?" Karen said, almost lazily.

"Wait, since when am I homewrecking them?" Rachel asked, wiping away a stray tear and hoping no one could see how torn up she was.

"Since now," Jessi smiled, playing with Flash's hair as he put his head in her lap. "You can't let her get away with this."

"I'm thinking lots and lots of red," Argent smirked, pulling out a tube of her signature lipstick threateningly.

"Not everyone enjoys looking like they're bleeding, Arg," Kole laughed, smacking the red paint to the ground.

"But how do we know Gar even wants to be homewrecked?" Rachel sighed. "If he proposed to her, he probably never wants to see me again."

"Ooo, child," Vic laughed. "You got no idea, do ya?"

"Babe, he definitely wants to be homewrecked." Isiah grinned. "This is going to be fun, kids."

"Babe?" Rachel and Argent, Isiah's fiancée, said in the same threatening tone.

"It's a figure of speech, dearest girlfriend, who I will love for ever and always. Every day that passes between now and our wedding is only prolonging my misery." Isiah said hastily, pulling Argent into his chest.

_Nice save,_ Joseph signed with a smirk, making Kole, his longtime sweetheart, laugh.

"Whipped," Roy said, thinly hiding the word with a cough.

"I notice you haven't proposed to me yet," Jade glared. "Any particular reason, dear boyfriend?"

"Pansy," Isiah coughed as the room exploded in laughter and Roy blushed. Xavier didn't laugh, though, which surprised Rachel. He'd normally be the biggest chortler at even the worst jokes.

"Please," Kori said timidly. "What is the 'homewrecking'?"

"I'll explain later, Kor," Adam said kindly, missing the furious glare Richard sent him. Kori and the gorgeous captain of the Aqualads, the Gotham swim team, had been getting closer for months, much to Dick's dismay.

"Focus!" Karen, ever the leader, barked. "We've got two days to make him remember why he hates that girl, and why he loves Rachel. Let's get crackin'!"

"Wait, don't I get a say in this?" Rachel pleaded. "I don't want to mess up his life."

"Absolulety not. You get no say whatsoever." Jessi said bluntly. "Whatever made you think you had a choice?"

"Since it's my relationship, I thought that maybe-"

"Hell no." Karen laughed. "Babe, this ain't about you no more. It's about _revenge._"

_I thought it was about love?_ Joseph signed, cocking his head to the side.

"Ten percent love, ninety percent revenge, and twenty percent boredom." Karen shook her head. "Duh!"

"That's a hundred and twenty percent, Bea," Vic laughed, pulling at the edge of his girlfriend's puffs.

Karen opened her mouth to yell, but Kole cut her off. "So, who wants to go shopping for Rachel's new wardrobe?"

Choruses of yeses and clothing ideas filled the air, leaving the guys and Rachel speechless.

_Let the games begin,_ she thought bleakly.

_**Monday, 9:34, Logan Lodge: **_

"Why am I doing this?" Rachel asked again, pulling at the bottom of her sweats.

Karen shot the frayed navy blue pants a disgusted glare. "Because, you need to show him that you still care about him!"

"And that you're better for him, just incase he forgot." Kole said brightly, scanning Jade's iPod for a song.

"What if she's there? Or what if he won't let me in? I haven't seen him in a year…"

"He'll let you in, and all the better if the hobag's there," Argent growled.

"Just go, before we have to force you," Jessi smirked, wielding a mascara wand like a knife.

Rachel sighed and opened the door on Karen's huge Suburban.

Walking up to the front door, she was again struck by how huge Logan Lodge was. The building was colossal, but also warm and homey, with its huge redbrick walls and wooden interior.

Pressing the pager, she tried to calm the butterflies down in her stomach as Lucas picked up.

"Welcome to Logan Lodge, how may I be of service?" The old butler said calmly.

"Hi, Lucas. I was wondering if Gar was in?" Rachel asked nervously.

"Master Rachel! What a pleasant surprise," Lucas exclaimed. "And yes, Master Gar is in."

"Can I see him?"

"One moment." Lucas promised. "I shall be down shortly."

_**Monday, 9:41, Logan Lodge, Gar's private sitting room: **_

"Hi," Rachel breathed, looking into Gar's surprised face.

"Rachel?" He asked quietly, taking a step towards her. "What are you doing here?"

"I got your wedding invite." She sighed, settling on the floor.

"Oh."

"Why are you doing it, Gar?" Rachel asked finally, emotion creeping into her voice. "Why are you marrying her? I thought you said she was crazy. I thought you said she'd been stalking you!"

"Rachel, you don't understand." Gar said evenly, but the tightness of his shoulders gave him away.

"What don't I understand? That you're marrying a girl that you told me you hated? That you've been back from your military tour for over a year and didn't tell me?"

"That I'm marrying her because I can't have you!" Gar burst out.

"What?" Rachel said incredulously. "What do you mean you can't have me?"

He sat down across from her." Every time I'm near you, I ruin us. I've made you an outcast. People think you're a whore and a gold digger, no one trusts me anymore because they think I messed with you for fun and then ran away…"

Rachel slapped him across the face.

Anger seethed through her body and voice as she looked at the red mark she'd left. "Don't go all Edward on me, Garfield. Don't you dare."

"Rachel, listen-"

"No, _you_ listen." She growled. "I have my friends. I'm not an outcast. And as I seem to remember, you refused to touch me, or even kiss me! And all anybody has to do is look at my apartment and they'll know I'm not a gold digger!"

Stepping even closer, so she was an inch from his face, she looked straight into his eyes. "I love you, Gar."

"Rachel-" Gar started, pain and- was that longing in his voice?

Hope flaring up inside of her, Rachel continued. "You know how hard it is for me to care about other people, and how it's even harder for me to tell them, but I do, I love you. I love how you stood by me everyday, how you always respected me and my boundaries, how you you're always so nice and calm and amazing." Rachel paused to take his hands in between her own. "I love how you've always protected me, from Reggie, from myself, even though at the time I hated you for it. And I love how the last time you saw me, I called you a prideful child. I told you that you had no family, and you still let me in tonight. _I love you._" Rachel sniffed, ashamed at the tears building up in her eyes. "And if you marry her, I don't know what I'll do."

Gar locked his eyes on hers, and then pulled her towards him. Settling her in his lap, he rocked back and forth and held her while she cried.

"I love you, too," She heard him murmur, as she ruined his shirt with her tears. "I will love you until I die."

"_Then don't marry her,"_ She sobbed into his shoulder. "Don't do it."

"I have to."

"Why?" Rachel lifted her tearstained face up to his. "Why do you have to?"

"Because, Rachel," He sighed, caressing her face with his thumb, "It's not as simple as whether or not I love her."

"What's complicated about it?"

"She loves me." He whispered. "And I can't do that to her. Just leave, two days before we supposed to get married."

"But you'll do that to me," Rachel sniffed.

"Rachel, don't do this-"

Before he finished, she kissed him.

On the lips.

It started out as a desperate, last ditch effort on Rachel's part, but soon became something much, much, much more.

Gar kissed her back almost immediately, with enough force to send her head reeling backward. She pressed forward, glad for the connection to him. A primal urge jolted through her, and she bit his bottom lip, feeling the shudder that ran through him.

It wasn't at all like how she'd imagined it would be.

She'd thought a Gar kiss would be like Gar. Calm, sweet, and patient. Not wild, uncontrollable, passionate, the kind of kiss that lead to more.

Gar pulled away just enough to speak. "This isn't right."

"Says who?"

"I'm getting married. And I'm sure you're in a relationship with someone-"

"I'm not." She said quietly.

"What?"

"I could've dated Xavier, or someone else. But I didn't. I wanted you."

Looking up, she saw the raw longing and pain in his eyes.

"I still do." She finished.

This time, it was he who kissed her, in the rough, unadulterated way she'd come to crave.

Placing her hands around his neck, she leaned into him until his back was to the floor and she lay on top of him.

Again, he pulled away, this time with a hitch in his breath. "Do you remember the whole 'no taking advantage' thing?"

"Tell me you're not about to use that as an excuse to get me off of you, because I'm pretty comfortable right now," Rachel smiled.

"That's about to go out of the window, you know that right?"

"It was kind of what I was hoping for."

They met halfway with the kiss, and this time, neither pulled away,

**A.N. Suggestive ending, and yes, Gar and Terra are still getting married. That is crucial to my evil plan. **

**Review? **

**Tell mother if you want Gar and Rachel to **cough, cough**, or just kiss? **

**I'd love it if you did?**


	11. December 24th, 2012

**Hey, Guys- **

**Sorry I haven't updated in forever. It's been really, really, really crazy, so crazy that I don't know how I could've. **

**Also, my oldest brother died of brain cancer this morning. **

**You might ask me why I'm writing, and the only answer I have is that….it's like therapy. **

**This was already planned to be a melancholy chapter, anyway, so I didn't have to worry about ruining a happy chapter, which was good….. **

**Thanks to rephiamluvers123, kellygirl6754, bs13, chris, I'm. Only. Human. Dude., HollywoodUndead4Eva, jaytennis, purpleraven23, Psychotic Twin, MelonLord28, mischevious5100, Katwizzle, a friend of old, yezib23, dylanbiancamano, Guest no. , Guest no. 2, Cool Bubblegum, Guest, Princess Rae1230, alixx, and for reviewing. It really meant a lot to me to see all of those crowding up the inbox! **

**Special props to , because she figured out how to cheat the system and review twice :D **

**Thanks again to Riley Was Hur, RheaThePsychoticNinja, Azari Gother, Cool Bubblegum, vickidoll, wolfking98, Princes Rae1230, and for following.! **

**And thanks for the third time to Riley Was Hur, EvanescentDream93, vickidoll, wolfking98, bullface, and , the people who favorited! **

**I have an idea for another story….I'm still deciding on whether or not I want to publish it…..any thoughts?**

**But anyway…chapter eleven, here we come, yes? **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, Ed Sheeran, The lyrics to the song **_**Kiss Me**_**, Bruno Mars, Uncle Kracker, or anything else of actual value to anyone but me and my circle of friends in this story. **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**Tuesday, 10:41 a.m., Wayne Manor, the den: **_

Rachel squirmed slightly in the plush armchair as the stares of all her friends bored into her.

"Where were you last night, Rachel?" Karen said evenly, the calm tone of her voice masking the fury in her eyes.

"In my room. Here." Rachel said slowly, keeping her eyes on the polished wood that made up the floor. Karen was like an alpha female- looking her in the eyes was a sign of aggression.

"No, you weren't. Because Jessica, Argent, Kole, and myself all snuck into your room at exactly 1:00 a.m. And you were not there, were you?"

"Gar dropped me off." A bead of sweat slipped down Rachel's neck.

"Oh, did he? What time?"

"Around three in the morning."

"Around three? Oh, okay," Karen said slowly. "Then I suppose you have an explanation as to why, apparently, Flash and Jessi went blind for about and hour?"

"Um…" Rachel bit her bottom lip.

"Because, since they were both downstairs at three, watching season two of _Seventh Heaven_, it's highly illogical that they didn't hear, see, or smell you all last night. So, because _Gar dropped you off at three, _they must've, for all intents and purposes, become vegetables for an hour, right?"

"Rache, you might just wanna confess," Vic said, pity in his eyes. "She's got the bit between her teeth now."

"Okay, I stayed the night at Logan Lodge." Rachel admitted, shuffling her feet slightly.

There was a collective gasp from the circle around her armchair.

"_What happened?"_ Jade hissed, clutching Roy's arm with her sharp, turquoise nails.

"Um…well…"

"_Tell me you didn't."_ Jessi seethed, from where she sat on Flash's lap. "Tell me you _did not_ spend the night at Logan Lodge, doing _god knows what_ with Garfield Mark Logan, that you _did not_ have him _drive you home_ and _did not_ refrain from telling us every single dirty detail."

"Calm, Jess. Calm," Flash stroked Jessi's pink curls, trying to sooth her.

"He's Gar!" Argent shrieked. "Gotham's resident angel child!"

_And isn't he getting married?_ Joseph signed.

"When we planned for you to homewreck Terra, we didn't mean, actually go and get with her fiancée!" Karen said from inside her hands.

"Wait, but didn't we, though?" Kole said slowly.

Roy wolf-whistled as Jessi blushed and Flash raised an eyebrow.

"Guys-" Rachel started, only to be interrupted by Kori and Adam bursting through the door.

"Hello, all!" Kori beamed, unwrapping her scarf and laughing as Adam flicked her with his own snow covered one.

Richard scowled.

"Oh, do the guessing of what!" Kori gushed, dimples popping on her flushed cheeks.

"What, Kor?" Isiah sighed, visibly exhausted by Kori's cheeriness.

"I have a baby!"

Argent spit out the mouthful of Sprite she had, spraying the side of Rachel's armchair with the sticky liquid.

_**Tuesday, 11:01, the den, again: **_

"What's her name?" Jessi asked in wonder as the little baby girl stretched and waved her tiny fists.

"Sarabeth Maureen Gregory," Kori beamed.

Richard said nothing, only glared at Adam and Kori's entwined hands.

Isiah laughed as Sarabeth grabbed onto Flash's pinky and stared at it with wide eyes. "And Koma's just letting you babysit her?"

"Of course. I am, after all, little Sarabeth's aunt," Kori giggled. "And Koma has not be out with her husband since the little bumgorf was born. She has waited six months….I am more than wiling to sacrifice an afternoon."

"Hi, Sarabeth, " Flash cooed, shocking everyone into a stunned silence. "I'm Wally, but you can call me Flash, okay? And that," He smiled, pointing in the general direction of Kori, "Is your aunt Kori. And over there-" He pointed fondly at Jessi. "Is Jessi. She's my girlfriend, and she's pretty amazing. Although, not as amazing as you," He smiled as Sarabeth gurgled and laughed, obviously satisfied with the compliment.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Roy said slowly.

"I'm talking to the baby, idiot." Flash snapped. "Can I hold her, Kor?"

Kori beamed her approval, and Flash took the little girl into his muscular arms, cradling her gentler than Rachel would've thought possible for such a clumsy guy. But it was the expression of fierce protectiveness in Flash's blue eyes, the same expression he got when he held Jessi, that made the picture strange.

"You've got a weird boyfriend, Jess," Rachel smiled, turning to her friend.

Jessi's hair had come out of its ponytail, so it now hung around her in sheets of silvery pink curls. She was wearing a simple black sundress with knee high boots, classic Jessi, but, Rachel noticed, there was something different about her expression as well.

As her friend looked at Flash holding Sarabeth, Rachel saw a sense of longing emanating off of Jessica.

"I want one." Jessi murmured.

"What, a weird boyfriend? I don't think it gets any worse than that, Jess." Argent smiled, motioning to Flash.

"No. I want a baby."

Of course, it was at that moment that Flash decided to look up from Sarabeth's wide brown eyes.

"_What?"_

"Master Richard," Alfred's calm voice came from the doorway. Richard and Rachel spun around at the same time. " You have a visitor."

"Well, this is awkward," Gar smiled, his tall shadowing falling next to Rachel's.

_**Tuesday, 1:00, Logan Lodge, Gar's private sitting room: **_

"She really is adorable," Rachel heard Gar laugh as he watched Sarabeth crawl around, alternating her home base between Flash and Jessi.

"You'd think she was Flash's own kid, the way he fawns over her," Rachel said from inside Gar's closet. "What is this?"

Pulling out of the dusty, dark space, Rachel brandished an old Little League jersey.

"It's my old Little League jersey," Gar smirked, watching Kori and Adam laugh, their heads bent together.

"No chiz, Sherlock," Karen called from where she, Vic, Argent, Isiah, Roy, and Jade were crowded in front of the flat screen, watching _The Hills_ reruns. "She wants to know what it means to you."

"Chiz?" Isiah questioned, running a lock of Argent's hair between his fingers.

"I'm trying something new," Karen said defensively.

"I've always loved baseball," Gar shrugged, and Rachel tossed the jersey onto the floor, where it landed on top of the stripped couch.

"Kole, what are you and Joseph _doing_ with all of those sofa cushions?" Gar laughed. "The last time my couch was that messy, Flash and Jessi had just finished…getting acquainted."

Roy laughed. "That must've been fun."

"You've no idea," Flash snickered, dodging Jessi's swat.

_We're making a fort,_ Joseph signed.

Jade coughed into her Dr. Pepper. "And what exactly are you planning on doing inside the fort?'

_Playing,_ Joseph smirked.

"What is it with your sense of humor, guys? Can't you see there's a six month year old in here?" Jessi said fiercely, pulling Sarabeth on top of Flash's stomach. "Dumb a- I mean, idiots."

"What is it with you and cursing?" Karen countered.

"You're right, Kare," Jessi rolled her eyes.

"Your friends are hilarious," Gar beamed from where he sat on the foot of the table.

"You can have them," Rachel sighed. "With these jokers, one hour is enough to give you the migraine of the century."

"I HEARD THAT!" Kole yelled from inside of the fort.

"C'mon," Rachel said, moving to where he sat and offering him her hand. "Let's get out of here,"

"You two are not allowed to hide somewhere and make bumgorfs," Kori warned sternly. "It is enough that Flash and Jessica are…I believe the word is macking? On eacn other, but I do not need you as well."

"Like you and Adam aren't doing the same thing, curled up in that armchair, " Vic snorted. "I know y'all ain't doing that to keep warm,"

"Vic, that's really not fun-" Adam started, only to be cut off by Kori kissing him, hard, on the lips.

Argent clapped a hand to her red- lipsticked mouth, and Kole popped her head out of the fort, her hair mussed. Joseph came out next, pale pink lipstick on his jaw.

"_That_ is why we need to leave," Rachel said in a monotone. "Ten to one Richard's about to throw something at Adam."

"And if he accidentally misses and hits Karen-" Gar started, an impish gleam in his brown eyes.

"Hell hath no fury."

_**Tuesday, 1:15, Logan Lodge, The Kitchen: **_

"I thought this was like Georgette's domain," Rachel said as Gar opened the heavy wooden door.

"It is, but I managed to convince her to loan it to me today," Gar grinned.

"So, why did you choose the _kitchen_ out of all the places in this palace to come to for solitude?"

"Because," Gar said as he fiddled with the dial on an old radio. "We're going to bake cookies.

_**Tuesday, 2:30, Logan Lodge, The Kitchen: **_

"God, how long until these things are _done?_" Gar said for the fifth time, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

" The answer hasn't changed since five seconds ago, Garfield," Rachel said through clenched teeth.

"But it's taking so _long_," He whined.

She simply looked up at him from where he stood in front of the stainless steel ovens.

"Okay, okay," He sighed. "But I've always had a problem with patience."

Ed Sheeran's voice warbled through the old speakers on the radio, and with a jolt, Rachel recognized the song: Kiss Me.

The same song she'd been listening to in her French class the day after she'd meet him. It felt so far away, that day at Yoli's, him kneeling on one knee, grinning so crazily she'd had no choice but to say yes.

She felt her stomach ache, the pale silvery scar from when she'd seen Reggie in the park throbbing. That, too, seemed far away, somewhere deep in her memories.

Gar turned to look at her, the eyes that had only a moment ago been lit with a childlike impatience now filled with the seriousness of adulthood.

_I'm falling for your eyes, but they don't know me yet…and the feeling I forget…I'm in love, now, _

Ed's voice slowly faded away, replaced by the song _ Smile_, by Uncle Kracker.

"C'mon." Gar said, extending his hand to her. "Let's dance."

"What? Um, no."

"Let me rephrase," He smirked. "I'm about to dance with you. You can either grin and enjoy it, or act sullen and still secretly enjoy it."

Grabbing her hand, he pulled her to her feet and twirled her around.

She smiled, and then quickly shook her head. "Dang you."

"What?"

"You're making me smile."

"So?"

"So, I am not a smiler. Never have been, and I probably never will be." Rachel shook her head.

"You smile around me!" Gar said, indignant.

"But that's _just_ for you," Rachel said. "I know how much you love it."

Gar smiled softly and twirled Rachel again, laughing when her hair burst out of its weak ponytail.

The timer on the cookies beeped, and Gar finally released her, donning oven mitts and setting the cookies on the stovetop.

"They look really good," He said weakly.

Rachel snorted. The cookies looked like misshapen hockey pucks, with lumps of caramel, M&Ms, and almonds sticking out of the sugar cookie dough like warts.

"Well, I bet they taste delicious." Gar defended himself.

"Sure. I can't smile, and you can't cook. Home Sweet Home." She said, flicking him with the ends of the backing towel.

"First, I could kick your behind in a cooking contest so hard it wouldn't even be funny, and second, don't joke like that."

"Home Sweet Home? Why?"

"Because I do want this place to always be your home." Gar said, poking at one of the cookies with a butter knife gingerly.

"Even when you're married to Terra?" Gar stopped midpoke. It was the first either of them had mentioned his wedding.

The wedding that, Rachel realized, was taking place _tomorrow._

She took a cautious step closer to him. "Even when you're not….mine anymore?"

"I'll always be yours," He said fiercely, his back still turned to her. "No matter what."

"Gar-"

He stopped the words with a quick kiss. "Here, try the cookies."

He placed one, warm and crumbly, in her hand.

Looking into his deep brown eyes, she slowly took a bite.

"Well?"

"They're amazing," Rachel said slowly, blinking back her tears. "They're really, really, really amazing."

"Good." He said, the tremor in his voice revealing that he'd seen the sheen of tears building on her eyes. "C'mon. Grab a few, and then I'm taking you to my favorite place in the world."

_**Tuesday, 3:02 p.m., Logan Lodge, The Observatory: **_

"So this is what the glass dome on top of the Lodge is, huh?" Rachel said, turning slowly around.

The observatory was obviously very recently built, and it was more of a greenhouse than an observatory, save the telescopes lining the east wall.

It was very calm and quiet, and the smell of dirt and growing things was heavy in the air. Looking at Gar, Rachel saw a new side to the man, the quiet, doctor side that he hid.

"I thought the Ballroom was the highest level?"

"It was," Gar answered. "When we went there. But during the time we weren't together, I had this built."

"Why?"

Gar smiled. "Wait until 9:30 and then you'll see."

_**Tuesday, 9:30 p.m., Logan Lodge, The Observatory: **_

"_Wow," _ Rachel breathed as the fireworks erupted, bathing the glass dome ceiling on the observatory in multi colored lights. "It's beautiful."

"Look at the roses, Rachel. The white ones." Gar said nudging her head with his own in the direction of the sweet-smelling bushes.

The white roses had been bathed with the jumping lights, painting them all different colors, and giving the entire observatory an eerie glow.

"That's…indescribable." She said.

"But my favorite part is the moon." Gar said quietly. Rachel followed his gaze to the tiny white sliver in the sky, surrounding by blinking stars.

"Why?"

"Because, it's….so lonely, even when it's surround by the stars." Gar mused. "It's lost itself in everything, and now it hangs alone, even in the middle of the crowd. It's so beautiful, but sad."

Rachel groaned. "Great. Now every time I see the moon, I'll think of you." She rolled over so she was lying on his chest, and his arms went around her waist, pulling her close.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." He smiled, planting a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"It is! You're getting married tomorrow. Thinking of you is the last thing I should be doing!"

"Why? I mean, I'll still think of you." Gar said.

"Even when you're a blooming newlywed? Yeah, right."

"No, I'm serious, Rachel. Every time I'm with her, I'll think of you. Every time she so much as looks at me, I'll see you. You've become a permanent part of me."

Rachel sighed. "Did you tell her about last night?"

She felt him tense. "No."

"So, this is goodbye, then?"

"No."

"It has to be-"

"No, it doesn't." Gar said, looking down into her eyes. "Goodbyes are subjective. They mean different things to different people."

"It's the same-"

"And I promise you, Rachel Roth," Gar said, ignoring her protests. "I will never say goodbye to you."

It was a beautiful moment, cut short by the ringing of the house phone, which Gar reluctantly got up to get.

When he came back, his face was drawn and pale.

"What is it?" Rachel asked, concerned.

"Terra." Gar said, passing a hand over his face. "She's here."

**A.N. DUN DUN DUN….. **

**So, facts: **

**-Yes, there will be a wedding next chapter. **

**-No, a bus-although that did cross my mind- will not mysteriously hit Terra. **

**-Yes, you will find out why he's marrying her. **

**-Yes, Terra is keeping a secret from him, a horrible, evil, secret. **

**-and yes, this chapter is crappy. Sorry. **

**-and yes, I did not send out PMs for last chapter, I am soooo sorry, but I TOTALLY forgot, what with everything going on. **

**Reviews? Please? **

**If only one word?**


	12. Christmas Day, 2012, Flashback included

**A.N. Alright, so I can't do the dedications this chapter because I'm truly crying as I write this. **

**Continue, Dear Readers, and see why I'm currently clutching my dog and stuffed cat and sobbing like I've just watched the Titanic. **

**Any Rose/Jack shippers out there? Anybody ever read Beautiful Creatures? **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop**_

_**Tuesday, 11:54 a.m., Rachel's apartment: **_

"GET UP, GET UP, GET UP!" Karen screeched, bolting into Rachel's bedroom.

"Whaaa?" Rachel moaned, her dark head pooping up from the mound of cotton blankets.

"YOU OVERSLEPT! THE WEDDING'S IN TWO HOURS, AND TRICHINOUS BALLROOM IS EASILY THREE HOURS AWAY!"

Rachel shot out of her bed, running into Argent as she stood in the doorway.

"It's in two hours? Why didn't you wake me?" She said, pulling off her pajamas with cheetah speed.

"You were supposed to be awake when we got here, babe," Argent said as Karen searched Rachel's closet for a dress. "Heck, you were _supposed_ to be waiting at the metro nearest to the ballroom when we got here!"

"I had a…rough night."

"Elaborate?" Kole said, sliding in between Argent and Rachel.

"I met Terra."

"YOU DID WHAT?" Karen's head popped out of the dark closet.

"Who met Terra? How? Does Rachel kn-" Jessi started, coming through the small hallway. "Rachel! You're supposed to be at least two hours away by now!"

"You kept that quiet this long?" Argent demanded.

"I've been awake for like, five minutes, children. I didn't have a chance." Rachel protested.

"So, spill, then. You're already late-might as well." Kole sighed.

Rachel sighed, collapsed back on her bed, and told them.

_**Monday, 9:45 p.m., Gar's private sitting room: **_

Terra was everything Rachel had hoped she wouldn't be.

She was kind.

She was smart.

She was soft-spoken.

She loved animals.

And she was drop-dead beautiful.

Whereas Rachel's hair was a curly, dark, unruly mess, Terra's was an icy blonde with only a slight curl at the end, not a single strand out of place. It was tied back with a _white ribbon._

If Rachel ever tried to put a white ribbon in her hair, by itself, with no ponytail holder, it would be disastrous. At the very best, she'd look like a six-year-old on steroids. But on Terra, it looked effortless and beautiful and carefree, an image matched by her simply white sundress, porcelain skin, and big, soft, sky-blue eyes.

Rachel wanted to kill her, and she wanted to ask her what conditioner she used.

"Is this a friend of yours, Garry?" She said in that light, airy, Sugarplum fairy voice.

"Uhm, yeah, it is, Terra. This is Rachel." Gar shifted back and forth, wincing as Terra sat primly in an armchair by the bookshelves.

Rachel almost always sprawled out on the floor with at least three of her closest friends whenever she came to this sitting room.

"Pleased to meet you, Rachel," She said quietly. "I am Terra."

_My God, _Rachel thought,_ She's the freaking Ice Queen. _

The phone on the coffee table rang, and Gar practically jumped over himself to get it. "Hi, Lucas."

Gar nodded for a bit, and then said, "I'll be right down."

Turning to Terra, he said, "Would you mind sitting here with Rachel for a moment? Lucas wants me to check out some packages."

"Of course, Garry," Terra smiled softly. "I can't wait to…get acquainted with your friend."

Gar smiled nervously, and bounced out of the sitting room.

No sooner had he left then Terra swiveled over to Rachel. "Do not presume me stupid, Rachel. I know about you and Garry, and I sincerely hope you are smart enough to stay away from him once we're married."

Rachel's jaw tightened. "You've taken advantage of his nature more than once, Terra."

"Like you haven't," Terra snorted. "Look, you do not deserve him."

Rachel's blood boiled. "I love him!"

Terra stood up and began stalking across the room. "Do you think I don't?

"I KNOW you don't!"

"You know nothing! You have no idea how it feels to _know_ that you have everything you could ever possibly want, and know that it all means _nothing. _My entire life, I've had things thrown at me, I've been given objects to replace any real affection. And all the while, all I've _ever_ wanted is to be _loved._ And you, this girl who's been sneaking around with my fiancée, would take away my one chance, would tell me that I'm not deserving of it? Who are you to do that to me?"

"I know enough to know that you've done horrible things-"

"I WAS A TEENAGER!" Terra exploded. "IT WAS MY SENIOR YEAR IN HIGHSCHOOL, WHEN ALL I CARED ABOUT WAS MAKING AN IMPRESSION, ENDING WITH A BANG! I KNOW BETTER NOW! HOW DARE YOU HOLD THAT AGAINST ME?"

"I-"

To Rachel's utter surprise, Terra sank to the floor, her sundress pooling around her, and began to cry.

"I've _hated_ myself_ constantly_ for what I did to him. I know that I dealt a grievous blow to the best side of Gar, but you have to understand, Rachel-you don't know the full story, and neither does he. Everything I do, it's for a reason." She took a deep breath. "I lied to him."

"Yeah, I heard."

"No, you don't understand. I _lied_ to him and I still am. When we met again, I was like 'Finally, here's my second chance!'. And then he looks at me, and I can see that he's still hurting, so, _so_ much over what happened, and I can see my precious chance slipping through my fingers. I was desperate and slightly hung-over, and I told him that I was getting stalked and abused and I needed someone to protect me. And, like he always does, he offered to be that person."

Rachel was appalled. "People all over the world actually go through that! And he's only marrying you because you lied to him?"

"No." Terra shook her head. "There's always the company merger, you know. We've pretty much been destined for each other since birth."

"The company merger?"

"Logan Industries and HLA Corporation have been trying to merge the rival companies for practically eternity. Gar and I are the first time they've ever come this close, but it wouldn't have been enough. He would've still hated me. I had to, Rachel, I had to. I couldn't lose him again."

Rachel didn't want to understand.

But she did.

She got that Terra had been in love and scared, and she understood that that was a bad combination.

"I get it. I don't think that you did the right thing, but I…understand it."

"Then please, Rachel, don't come tomorrow." Terra said, spinning to face her.

"What?"

"Don't come to the wedding. I truly am different, and I'll take care of Gar, but I can't…" She trailed off.

"You're insane." Rachel turned to go, but Terra grabbed her forearm.

"Six months." She pleaded, her soft blue eyes wide. "Don't come tomorrow and give me six months married to him. After that, if he wants a divorce, I'll sign the papers. I'll let him go, if he wants to leave, and he'll never see me again unless _he_ wants to, I promise. But you have to give me six months."

Rachel had the _no_ on the tip of her tongue.

But then, she saw in Terra's eyes the same pleading desperation she'd worn when she'd begged Gar not to go to see her father.

And, unbidden, an "Okay." tumbled from her mouth.

_**Tuesday, 4:46 p.m., Trichinous Ballroom: **_

When she runs up the steps and bursts through the door, she doesn't know what she's expecting. Terra, delicately swathed in white silk, her bridal ball gown shimmering and her teardrop face brimming with sadness when she realized Rachel had broken her promise. Gar's look of incredulity and possibly happiness. The way his face would change when he realized exactly how much evil a human was capable of. Her mind is racing, figuring out any possible solution to any possible situation.

Except for the one she was presented with when she stepped into the reincarnation of Westminster Abbey.

It was empty.

There'd obviously been a wedding there earlier. Rose petals covered the aisle, and the faint smell of Gar's cologne lingers. She suddenly wants to laugh because she can just see a nervous Gar applying way too much of his musky scent in front of his bedroom mirror in her minds' eye.

Come to think of it she'd never been inside of Gar's bedroom. She wasn't even sure if he had a mirror.

She slowly walks up the aisle, biting her lip to keep from crying. When she reaches the altar, she sinks down and bites harder until there's a sharp, metallic tang in her mouth. Her hands at her sides start to shake slightly, and she leans against the pulpit.

_I was too late_, She thinks. _I overslept and now he's married. Gone. Forever._

And even though she's still biting her lip and the blood is flooding her mouth, silent tears start dripping down her face, every slide leaving another track of misery in its place.

**A.N. This chapter was originally supposed to be longer and feature a crapload more-if you want the full list, tough chiz, but I suddenly felt kinda….like this is better. **

**Press the pretty button below, because next chapter there's wedding dress/tuxedo shopping for Flash and Jessi's wedding with the whole gang, including Gar and Rachel. **

**Fun. **

**Review? **


	13. New Years, 2013: New York, New York

**A.N. I FEEL IT'S BECOME NESSECARY TO PUT THIS NOTE IN: **

**AS OF THIS CHAPTER, A HAPPY GAR/RACHEL ENDING IS NO LONGER GUARENTTED. PREPARE TO SEE NEW SIDES OF THE CHARACTERS YOU LOVE, AND MAYBE THE FEW YOU HATE, AS WELL. **

**MOVING ON: **

**Thanks to xXME AGAINST THE WORLDXX, Daniibabii, Raven Angel Of Darkness, ibritbrat, NoWarningSignsNoAlibi, Egyptiandude990, BrownEyedRascal, thesoral, helikesitheymikey, and Ashlyna27 for following! **

**Thanks to Sweetart22, NoWarningSigns, BrownEyedRascal, and helikesitheymikey for favoriting! **

**And thanks to Kellygirl6754, Mrs. DylanLightwoodIvaskov, Teen Titan lover, Princess Rae1230, helikesitheymikey, RheaThePsychoticNinja, gabylokita41, and Guest for reviewing! **

**DO NOT BE FOOLED INTO THINKING THAT THE SECRET TERRA SHARED LAST CHAPTER IS THE DEEP, DARK SECRET I'VE BEEN HINTING AT! THAT'S COMING LATER!**

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**Monday, 2:34 p.m., Klienfield Bridal, New York, New York: **_

"What am I _doing_ here?" Rachel mutters as she sifts through white wedding dresses with Karen's chatter in her left ear.

"And I thought maybe a see-through lace bodice with a corset sort of thing, just to give Flash something to focus on during the ceremony, and you know how _perfect_ Jessi's stomach is, so I'm just saying-" Karen goes on.

"You're here, supporting me and getting out of your funk!" Jessi appears behind her, brandishing a silk ball-gown. "I thought maybe, to shut Karen up I could try this one?"

"But I just don't know if an ivory dress is goin' to work with that hair, you know? I wish she'd dye it back, it's horribly difficult to get a weddin' dress that don't clash with _that_ color-" Karen practically yells to the entire store.

"I'm not really good at … wedding stuff, Jess. And it's still kinda…fresh. I don't know if I can do this." Rachel says, turning to her friend.

"I know, but it's been days, Rach. It's time to start taking those baby steps to almost-halfway-semi dealing with it. And anyway, as my Maid-Of-Honor, I sincerely hope you can use that sunny personality of yours and get over your wedding phobia!" Jessi dances away as her flustered consultant calls her over.

"Who do you have with you, darling?" The woman, whose nametag says Janet, asks, fingering a pen on a clipboard in her hand.

"I've got my Maid Of Honor, Rachel, my Bridesmaids, Karen, Jade, Argent, Kole, and Kori, my ring bearers, Juan and Joaquin, and mu fiancée's Best Man, Garfield, but everybody calls him Gar."

"Quite an entourage, dear. Now, tell me about your groom, Flash?"

"Well, his name is Wallace Rudolph West, but everybody calls him Flash because he does EVERYTHING fast, and my god, the man is the best thing since-"

But Rachel doesn't hear the comparison, because at that moment, another consultant leads three men into their party.

Two were obviously twins, both tan and quick-eyed.

And one was Garfield Mark Logan.

The moment he looks at her, her knees start knocking.

"You must be the best man!" Janet calls, looking relieved at another voice of reason. "Come, come!"

Rachel took that as her cue to gracefully get the hell out of there. As she inches towards the exit, though, Karen grabs her elbow.

"Where in the world do you think you're goin', Rachel Roth?"

"I'm, uh, going to…look at someth- I'm trying to avoid Ritchie Rich over there, okay?" Rachel mutters. "C'mon, Kare, do this one thing for me?"

Karen sighs. "Fifteen minutes. But I need you to remember this one thing for me. Today is _not about you_. It is about Jessica and Flash. And I don't care how many weddins you were too late to stop, today is too crucial for you to bail on that girl."

"I know, Karen. I'll be back. I just need a minute to…think."

Karen nods, once, and then turns back to Jessi, tossing two more dresses onto her already heavy-laden shoulders.

_**Monday, 2:45 p.m., The Bathroom, Klienfield Bridal, New York, New York: **_

Rachel looks at herself in the mirror.

Same pasty, pale skin. Same unruly dark hair. Same eyes that were almost purple and barely blue. Dark bags under her eyes, as always.

What is it about me, she wonders, that is suddenly different?

And suddenly, she knows.

She understands that she looks different because she can no longer say 'no matter how ugly I think I am, Gar still loves me, so I can't be that hideous' to herself when she feels bad. She's lost her validation, and in that moment, she realizes how much he meant to her. Knowing that there was a person, in the world, who knew nearly nothing about her and loved her regardless, that was something, whether or not she knew it at the time, was something she treasured.

She has a strange urge to punch the mirror, so she does.

Glass rains down on her hand, sending immediate shards of pain down her nerves. She swears, clutching her hand to her chest and rocking back and forth.

A stall door opens, and a girl steps out.

She's not really a girl, but she still has the chubby cheeks and the youthful innocence in her eyes that proclaim her no older than twenty-two.

When she sees Rachel's hand, her eyes widen and she reaches for it.

"I'm…fine…" Rachel gasps, pain threatening to overwhelm her.

"Like hell you are. Give me the freakin' appendage." She says, chuckling. "I'm Liv."

Another girl pops her head out of her stall. "And I'm Sixty-Four, the bride in this whole situation. Jesus Christ, kid, what did you do?"

Sixty-Four is short and slightly chubby and caramel-colored, with long black hair that swings and twinkling brown eyes.

Liv is short as well, and at least half Italian, with her hair cut like a boy's and two-inch heels. She reaches for Rachel's hand again, and Sixty-Four digs in her purse.

"I think I have some….wait a minute…oh, here it is!" She produces a roll of gauze and a bottle of ibuprofen.

Rachel doesn't think she's ever seen anything better. "I'm Rachel," She says gracefully.

She lets Liv and Sixty-Four bandage her hand, laughing as they talk and chatter.

"So then, I was watching NCIS, and I honestly don't know what's going on with Abby and Mcgee, but I swear, I am going to write a very angry letter if they don't get together. These producers know I'm special- they just need to come out and say it!" Sixty-Four twitters as she wraps Rachel's wrist.

Rachel's scar on her stomach suddenly aches, and she gets a weird sense of déjà vu about the last time somebody wrapped her in gauze. She remembers the feeling of Gar's lips on her forehead and of lying with her head in his lap, squeezing his hand whenever the pain rebounds.

An image of Terra pops into her mind, and she wants to punch the mirror again.

Instead, she asks Sixty-Four if that's actually her name.

" 'Course not. Sixty-four is just my favorite number, and my real name…just didn't do it for me."

"Not like Noah and Ben do it for you," Liv teases.

"Noah and Ben?" Rachel questions.

"Noah's Sixty-Four's fiancé. The peanut butter to her jelly, the cup to her reeces, the Ethan to her Lena and the Mr. Darcy to her Elizabeth. It's quite disgusting." Liv shudders. "And Ben's Noah's brother, the poor soul whose heart she broke and forced me to mend."

"Oh yeah, because sleeping with him is really the equivalent of slapping a big ol' bandage on that broken heart," Sixty-Four rolls her eyes.

"You know what, S4, everybody heals differently. It's a slow process." Liv grins. "Ben's just happens to involve…well, you know…"

Rachel laughs again, and she realizes with a shock that practically all the other times she's laughed in the past year have had something to do with Gar. It strikes her funny that she can still do it.

"Hey, Rachel, why don't you come back with me and my slore of a best-friend? You know you wanna help me pick out a ball-gown…"

"I told you, we're doing a mermaid!" Liv cries.

"Girl, it's _my_ wedding, and these thighs are not gonna work it in a mermaid! God, you ignoramus!"

Rachel glances at the clock. She's still got ten minutes.

"Maybe for a second…" She concedes.

_**Monday, 3:00, Klienfield Bridal, New York, New York: **_

"Where _were_ you?" Kori says as Rachel tries to slip back into Jessi's appointment.

"Way to go, _Maid Of Honor_," Karen sneers.

"C'mon, I'm not that late. Don't be melodramatic…" Rachel tries, knowing she's screwed up big-time.

"She's tried on _five_ dresses, Rachel. You should've been there at dress number one, but you're showing up at number six?" Kole shakes her head. "That's not okay."

"I have returned!" Rachel stiffens as she hears Gar's voice. "And I bear Starbucks. Has the lovely lady come out yet?"

"My very own Prince Charming," Jessi says, emerging from her dressing room.

Jaws drop.

Hands are clutched.

Kori begins to sob.

Jessi…she's found the dress.

"Wow, Jess," Rachel breathes.

"Could that possibly be my Maid Of Honor, who up and bailed on me fifteen minutes into what could possibly be one of the biggest days of my life?" Jessi refuses to look at her. "Way to go, Skippy."

Gar leans over and grabs Rachel's arm, and to her utter shame, she still gets shivers. No matter that he's married, and that she's supposed to be letting him go, she's still in love with him.

Absolutely.

"I need to talk to you." His voice is different that his usual soft tone. He never touches her with anything other that gentle care. He never, ever, ever raises his voice at her.

Something's up.

He drags her to the hall of dresses and lets her go, closing the door behind him.

"Look, Rachel, Karen told me why you just peaced out." Gar says sharply. "And I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable, but you can't just leave your best friend because of _that_."

"What, you think I'm just going up to be able to wake up the day after and go 'Hmm, this guy that I think I love kinda chose this girl who manipulated him and lied to him and is still doing things you cannot even imagine, but I'm over it'?" Rachel scoffs. "Even in your fantasy world, that doesn't happen. "

"You don't love me." Gar says flatly.

"_Excuse me?" _ Rachel begins, fury building inside of her.

"Rachel, you don't know my favorite _color_. How can you truly accept me in everyway like it's necessary for actual love?"

"I-I…" Rachel falters.

"Exactly. Look, I'm no better in this situation than you, but I'm not going to abandon Jessi just because you make me uncomfortable!"

"That's because you're _you_; the angel child of Gotham-"

"Be that as it may," Gar grins. "She was your friend way before she was ever mine, and yet, I'm the one who sat through six fittings with Jade, Argent, Kola, and Oh-Let's-Not-Forget-Karen while you were _god_ knows where."

"I was making new friends!"

"Really? You, the anti-social demon?" Gar asks, a sudden childlike curiosity in his eyes.

"Oh my god, yes! There's Liv and Sixty-Four and they bandaged my hand because I had gone completely _ape_ on this mirror, so I went back to Sixty-Four's wedding dress shopping thing, and I met Fifty-Eight and Thirty-Seven and Julio and Juan-Carlos and Amelia and Kathleen and Nolan and it was amazing!"

Gar stares at her. "That's maybe the most girlish thing I've ever heard you say."

Rachel smiled and blushed, and then her eyes connected on Gar's.

And then, as if in slow motion, she slowly started moving towards him, centimeter by centimeter.

And then, as if possessed, she brushed her lips against his in maybe the softest little whisper of a kiss.

When he jerks his head back after a minute, she has maybe two seconds to think, _how the hell am I supposed to let go of him now? _

But then he backs away, fear and confusion and sadness and something close to love in those soft brown eyes that give away his every feeling, and another thought overpowers her pervious one:

_Let the six months begin. _

**A.N.**

**Review?**


	14. January, 2013

**A.N. Hey, guys! **

**Alright, so this is the beginning of the six-month chapters, which will be basically formatted as such. Unfortunately, Rachel only gets one of this chapters, but Gar doesn't get any day sections in this part, so I feel it's only fair he get most of the month ones. **

**Alright, I've got one warning before I do the dedications/thank yous: **

**There will be other people in the Gar/Rachel ship. **

**Gar's got Terra, and Rachel's got…well, read on, and you'll find out. **

**So, don't be coming at me with pitchforks because I'm widening the stories love triangle to a love square, okay? **

**I love yous to: **

**Banana Luvs Myths Sweetnsxy, fei. fie. fo. fum, and BUTTERCUPISME for following! **

**nusicqueen124 and BUTTERCUPISME for favoriting. **

**God, will I ever be able to spell that correctly? **

**And of course, to Chickie-Poo, Guest, Guinea. Pig. Ninja, BUTTERCUPISME, musicqueen124, Katwizzle, Curse you Perry the Platypus, jaytennis, and sweetnsxy for reviewing! **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

**January **

She doesn't really know when she really realizes what's happened.

She thinks that it might've been watching him walk away, wondering how the hell she was supposed to move on.

Or, it could've been seeing the hurt in Jessi's eyes, the disappointment and sadness.

But maybe the moment that hit her home the most was when, in a burst of energy, she logged onto her email account and noted that she had one new message.

From Terra.

It contained two simple words, two words that sent her spiraling into a well of self-pity.

_Thank you. _

She doesn't really know when the numbness ends and the aching begins.

She can't pinpoint the moment when she suddenly understood that she's, for all intents and purposes, given up her first love.

But then again, isn't that why it's called a first love?

First loves are the testing zones, the time to try out attractions, the time to have your heart broken and gain knowledge about the game everyone plays.

So, then, she thinks, if first loves are meant to be disposable, then why does she feeling like she's being stabbed every time she thinks of him?

She decides that first loves _are_ disposable, but first heartbreaks are like tattoos.

She spends the next week typing into her computer, writing a meaningless love story, one with a beautiful damsel in distress and a happy ending.

And then she thinks about Gar and Terra, and she decides right then and there that there's no such thing as a true happy ending.

She turns on the radio once, because she thinks that if _Kiss Me_ runs through her head one more time, she'll go crazy.

So she turns it on, just in time to hear the beginning of _Miss Me_, by Andy Grammer.

She listens to it silently, letting the words wash over her.

_And I promise you this…you're gonna miss me…miss me… _

She throws a shoe at the radio, knocking it off of her desk, and collapses on her bed.

She spends the next two weeks curled up on her bed, not crying, not screaming, and certainly not showing any signs of her inner pain.

Kole and Joseph come by every day, but eventually she starts pretending that she's not home, and the only thing that gives her any remote joy is hearing them talk and laugh in the unique, one-sided way they have.

The only time she wishes they'd leave is when it starts getting romantic and she can hear them kissing from her bedroom.

When that happens, she pulls the covers over her head and curls into a ball.

Eventually, Karen comes with Kole and Joseph, and she sits on Rachel's stomach until she gets up and forces her to clean her room.

And while she's going through the piles of old, ratty clothes, she finds a hoodie.

The hoodie Gar had given her when Reggie had cut her stomach and they'd had to remove her shirt.

She slowly lifts it to her nose and gives it one small sniff.

And then she curls back into her ball, clutching the hoodie against her again, and for the first time she can remember, she cries.

She stays like that for a few days.

But then, Jessi comes, and she knows that she can't live like that anymore.

"Get the hell up, Rachel." Jessi says flatly.

Rachel raises her head slightly, blinking. "No."

In one swift motion, Jessi grabs her arm and pulls her off of her bed, dragging her down the hall and shoving her in the bathroom.

"Look, Rachel Roth, as your best friend, I'm calling an intervention. You missed _my wedding dress fitting._ You've spent literally three of the four weeks in a month curled on your bed, throwing a pity party. In case you're stupid or something, I'm not sending Kole and Joe here so they can be sexually active without anyone walking in. I'm sending them in because you are on the brink of a depression. You've lost so much weight that you look like you're drowning in your clothes. All of this over a _guy._ So, Rachel, let me lay this out: I am _going_ to give you an outfit and we are _going _to go shopping so you don't look like a freaking drowned otter, and if we happen across a good-looking, halfway decent guy, I promise you, Rachel, you are_ going_ to talk to him. This is not a suggestion, this is an order. So, get dressed, and if you're not ready in ten minutes, I am going to drag you naked into the store, and we _will _get stared at and probably sued for public nudity. Am I clear?" She hisses.

Rachel glares up at her and sits down in her tub, the message clear: _Make me. I dare you._

When Jessi turns on the freezing water and pours the showerhead all over her, she's so surprised she can't even get angry.

When Jessi grabs her hand, still wet, and forces her, still wet and in four sizes too large, out the door and hails a taxi, she literally goes into shock.

But she goes anyway, and she tries on everything Jessi hands her, and she even laughs a little when Jessi pulls out Flash's credit card to pay, saying primly that "We both knew it was time you got some help."

And then, they're trying to catch a taxi and a soft voice says, "I can help, if you want."

She whirls around, sure, for a second, that it's Gar.

But it's not.

It's a redhead.

She allows herself a minute to compare.

Chestnut waves where Gar is dark-haired.

Blue-eyed where Gar is brown-eyed.

Obviously muscular where Gar is wiry.

Tattooed where Gar is bare.

Pretty much the anti-Gar.

"Oh, that's okay, we're good-" Jessi starts.

"Why? Afraid I'll drag you off to my cave and have my way with you?" He smirks. "I promise I'll behave."

"I guess…" Jessi says, raising an eyebrow. "But I've got Mace. And a fiancée worth more than your entire neighborhood."

"Dully noted, " He smirks again.

He then puts his lips together for a high-pitched whistle, and seemingly out of nowhere, a yellow and black Gotham United cab appears.

Jessi grins and thanks him, sliding in with the bags.

"No problem. Hey, if anyone's feeling particularly reckless and idiotic, I'm planning to ride my motorcycle around, and I've got an extra helmet. I could give you a ride?"

Rachel, who is already halfway in the cab, opens her mouth to say no.

But then she thinks about what she's currently got waiting for her, and she decides that maybe a little recklessness is just what she needs.

So she smiles at Jessi, whose mouth flops open and hits the cab floor even as she drives away, and she walks with the man back to the motorcycle, and she gets on.

The wind is stinging her face, the cold January air filling her lungs and mind with an icy clarity, and she wants to actually laugh because this man is the opposite of Gar in so many ways, but she's thinking it might not be that bad, having an anti-Gar around.

She knows that she's using him as a means to make herself whole again, and she knows that's horrible, like, Terra-horrible, but she lets him drive her home anyway.

And she lets herself enjoy it.

As she gets off of the motorcycle in front of her apartment building, she hands him her phone so she can use both her hands to steady herself. She's never ridden a motorcycle before, but she decides then that she likes it, a lot.

He hands her the phone back, and she smiles shyly, opening her mouth to thank him, suddenly self-conscious.

When he kisses her full on the mouth, the mischievous glint in his eyes rendering her immobile, she thinks she can feel her heart pooling around her feet.

His hands go around her waist, and she can feel the warmth and solidness of them through her huge sweatshirt.

The first thing she realizes is that he smells different.

Gar smells woodsy and free, like pine needles and wintergreen, sort of like freedom and wildness would smell, if they had a smell.

This man –she realizes around then that she doesn't know his name- smells of smoke and ashes and a slight hint of Old Spice, of maple and caramel.

When he pulls away, she sees the glint again, and she knows that she'll remember that the most.

His smell, and his eyes.

He gives her a devilish smile as he puts his hands in his pocket.

She feels her brain melting away, so she says the first thing she can think of.

"My name's Rachel Roth."

He laughs.

"I'm Jason, Rachel Roth. Jason Todd."

**A.N. And so the wheel turns. **

**REVIEW?**


	15. February, 2013

A.N. Hey, friends!

**Look, guys, this is going to have a motley mix of all four points of the love square, so please, please, PLEASE don't get angry. I promise this is a chapter that must remain! I swear! AND FOR THE LAST GODDAMN TIME, NO, TERRA WILL NOT GET HIT BY A BUS! But then again, neither will the BB/RAE part of the story disappear! Gosh!**

**Thanks to Banana Luvs Myths, Crystal Wing on a Fragile String, Frivolous Flame, DaisyWillLiveForever, namicazkeCP, Curse you Perry the Platypus, and Vampire-Lover-Tegs for following! **

**Much love to namicazkeCP and Vampire-Lover-Tegs for following! **

**And, of course, AMAZING hugs to Curse you Perry the Platypus, Kamina0495, Egyptiandude990, gabylokita41, a friend of old, Katwizzle, Crystal Wing on a Fragile String, no name, NoWarningSignsNoAlibi, Teen Titans luver, and guest for reviewing!**

**LilyKate, please don't come to my house with a knife once you read this, because how on earth would I explain that to my parents? **

**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop**

_**February **_

He feels…lost.

That uncomfortable, in-between stage that most go through at around fifteen. Not really a kid, not really an adult.

Just…floating in the sea of highschool. Not really dead, but not alive, either.

But it isn't Terra's fault.

In fact, he's started seeing her differently, for some strange reason.

Maybe it's because on their wedding night, which he'd been secretly dreading, while he was reading a few Edgar Allen Poe (ironic, much?) poems, she'd quietly come in, holding something behind her back and shutting the door quietly.

He groans inwardly.

It's not that Terra is unappealing or anything. Far from it, actually.

But he just can't let himself think of Terra in that way. Not when he still remembers baking cookies with Rachel and kissing her in the Observatory and all the times he didn't kiss her, when they just sat and talked and laughed.

No, he gets sick to his stomach even imagining it.

Hell, he gets migraines when his memories of Rachel and Terra collide.

But he knows that if it came down to it, he would.

He'd do it because he knows Terra well enough to know that she's always wanted the full nine yards, the white wedding and the night that comes after. And he refused to take that away from her, the dream she'd had since she was a little girl.

So he steels himself and waits for her to lay on the bed.

But she doesn't.

Instead, she turns on the televison and slides a DVD in.

And from behind her back, she pulls out a Monopoly board game and a packet of cards.

He laughs out loud.

He remembers being seventeen and dating Terra. He remembers how they'd always go to parks and just sit and talk.

And he remembers saying that he'd want a girl who'd be okay with playing Monopoly on their wedding night,

He just can't believe that she remembers.

As it turns out, Terra is extremely good at blackjack and Monopoly, and as they play, they watch season two of Downton Abbey,

On their wedding night, they don't have sex, even though they both know that that's part of her dream and that he would've done it for her.

Instead, they play boardgames and cards and gasp when Mary and Matthew Crawley finally get engaged.

He remembers this, and later on he realizes that Terra doesn't sleep.

He's always been a midnight snack sort of guy, so at around 1:30 he'll go down and cook himself something.

And the light in her study is always on, and he can see her pacing or reading or dancing to old Stephen Tyler songs.

Finally, he tells her what he's been noticing, and she laughs and says that she's always been a night owl.

But there's sadness in her eyes.

He begins to stay up at night to make sure she sleeps. Perhaps it's because she's so fragile, or perhaps it's just his nature, but he feels like he needs to protect her.

So he doesn't sleep, and for one, two, five nights, she's good.

And then, at around two a.m. on Valentine's Day, he hears the screaming.

He runs into her bedroom from his library, and stops dead in the doorway.

Down from the pillows everywhere. Sheets hanging from her bed frame, slashed and torn. Furniture, lying cracked and broken.

Blood, sprinkled across her mattress.

She's wrapped in her white comforter, shivering in the corner. He walks over and gently pries the blanket from her granite-like figure.

The inside is coated with blood.

Her arms sport bright fingernail marks where she's scratched herself until she bleeds, and her small frame literally shakes with gasping sobs.

_What the hell am I supposed to do? _He wonders, at a loss for words.

So he doesn't speak.

He picks her up and he carries her back to his bed, and he holds her the entire night, letting her sob into his shirtless chest and bleed all over his sheets.

She tells him it's just a nightmare the following days. But he's never heard of the kind of nightmares that make you hysterical and screaming and violent.

He's never, ever, ever heard of nightmares that leave you saying, "I didn't mean to do it. I didn't mean to kill him, I swear, I had no choice…"

It's a pretty horrible Valentine's day, after that. He bandages her arms using his medical training and asks her if she's thought of taking sleeping pills.

She refuses, but every night, he knows she has the nightmare again.

Because he can hear the high-pitched screams from his bedroom.

And every night, he wakes her up and carries her back into his bed and holds her until she calms down.

The next two weeks proceed like that, in an uneasy, awkward, let's-be-friends-and-pretend-that-we're-not-actually-married-even-though-I-hold-you-every-night-and-you-get-my-chest-all-wet-and-snotty way.

That it, until her family visits.

Terra is the oldest child of four- her brother Geoffrey, her sister Anastasia, and her youngest brother, Johann.

All four look the same, blond and blue-eyed and slim and silent.

He wonders, secretly, if they all have the same nightmare.

At the dinner table, Terra's father brings up the subject of an heir.

"Terra, I don't know if that weak little mind of yours can even grasp the fragile state we're all in, but you've got to try. You're going to take over our family's legacy once, bless my soul, I'm gone. And as such, you'll need an heir. So…get down to it."

Terra squeezes Gar's hand underneath the table, warning him not to reply. "You're still alive and healthy, Father. There's plenty of time."

"You're not smart, Terra. You're not good conversation. You're weak and useless. All you've ever had is your fortune and your beauty, and those will eventually wane. You've got to have those babies now, while he," Mr. Markov gestures to Gar. "Is still interested."

He can see Terra slowly withdrawing into herself, hiding her defiance and strength, but he can't do it.

He gets truly angry.

It's their lives, and if children weren't going to be apart of that, it was their decision. Screw the company merger and the politics and the power.

He was not going to have a kid with Terra just because it was "nessecary for growth ad development".

And even if he wanted to, he couldn't. His heart was still too wrapped up in a different girl, one with dark hair and blue-purple eyes, one with insecurities and strength and a smile he'd never forget. One he'd fallen in love with.

Eventually he can't take it anymore. He gets up and leaves.

He can hear the shocked silence, but at this point, he doesn't even care. He slams the door behind him, and it feels good.

He walks until he reaches the park.

He watches the children play and laugh, and he marvels at how his breath puffs in the air.

And then, he realizes that this park is right in front of Rachel's apartment building, and he curses inwardly, knowing that a part of himself wishes she'd show up, and the other part dreads it.

But he sill stands there, like a stalker, and stares at her window, lost in thought.

And then he hears it.

Her laugh.

He spins around, trying to find her, desperately searching for a glance. He wants so badly to see her, to know that she's happy and alright.

And he finds her.

Laughing and smiling.

Holding on to the arm of a man with chestnut hair and a dark black overcoat.

He hopes, for a minute, that he's jumping to conclusions.

But then the man says something and she laughs again.

And the strange man kisses her. And she pulls him to her again and kisses him harder.

He stands there, even after they've gone, and eventually he finds his way back to the Lodge, dazed and heartbroken.

He doesn't know why, but he'd thought that she'd wait for him like he's been waiting for her. That she would be kissing a random guy two months later.

He wanders up and down hallways and corridors, trying to make sense of the seen he'd just witnessed.

_She couldn't have kissed him_, he thinks. _Rachel loves me. I love her. _

_Don't I? _

As he walks past Terra's door, he decides he wants to talk to her. So he enters, and he sees her, and stops dead.

Her hair, which is always up with its signature white ribbon, is lying in long, white sheets across her shoulders, falling onto her back and ending just below the small of her back.

He breathes out, and she looks up, her blue eyes widening, and he realizes the second major-thing.

She's not wearing a white sundress.

Instead, she's wearing white sweatpants and a gray tank top, and she's curled onto her bed in a small little ball.

He sits next to her, still shocked by her appearance.

"They've left." She says quietly.

"How often does he say those things to you?" He asks.

"How often times do I see him?" She sighs. "It's not his fault."

"Are you serious?"

"It's mine. I let him rule me too often when I was younger- I gave him too much power, and now he exploits it. " She smiles. "I don't let it bother me anymore."

He stares at her in amazement. "Why do you hide yourself?"

"What?"

"You…..you're strong. You can handle thing by yourself, you've learned how to protect yourself. You're defiant. And you hide it, you act like you're weak and meek! Why?"

"How does the saying go? The meek will inherit the earth, yes?"

"Don't you smart-mouth me, Terra Jeanette Markov," He smiles.

But her face falls anyway, and for a moment, he's stumped as to what he's said.

And then he mentally slaps himself.

Now that they're married, her name is Terra Jeanette Logan.

That's when it's cemented for him that he now has a wife.

A wife who pretends to be quiet and screams in her sleep and bleeds all over his sheets every night.

A wife who was okay with playing Monopoly on their wedding night, a wife who never pressures him, and who gave up the marriage she'd dreamed of so he could stay in love with a girl who moved on apparently quickly to another guy.

Maybe it's because he's finally started to appreciate Terra, or maybe it's because the image of Rachel and Mystery-Man are still in his head, but he leans forward and pulls her to him, holding her head against his neck and feeling the thumping of her heartbeat.

And the moment he does, he knows that this will have repercussions beyond his imagination.

Starting with the fact that, even though it's different, he's liking holding Terra. He remembers what it was like from their early days, but this seems different.

Sadder.

As though the snake has finally crept into Eden, and all mankind is about to fall.

**A.N. And so the love-square turns…**

**Please, leave all pitchforks and flaming torches in your family's torture chamber. All of you hardcore Gar/Rachel-ers, I promise, next chapter your day will come! Gar/Terra has to occur this chapter, because next one….well, you'll have to find out, won't you?**

**Is anybody interested in why Terra has nightmares? Anyone intrigued by what she mutters the first night Gar holds her? **

**Anybody gonna go see the Hobbit? **

**REVIEW? **


	16. March, 2013

**A.N. Why, hello there, darlings. **

**Some of you have noted that this is one of the longest times I've gone without updating. Some of you have asked me why. **

**Well, the honest-to-god truth is that I've promised myself that I won't write when angry, and I got some reviews that…bothered me. **

**But I'm better now (Thanks, !), so I'm going back to the old keyboard. **

**Song for this chapter and the next three is 'Philadelphia' by Parachute. Trust me, you'll want to have it playing, especially towards the end of this chapter. Describes all four points of the love square, and the lyrics at the end are an excerpt. **

**No, I don't own Teen Titans, 'Philadelphia' by Parachute, or 'Red Solo Cup'. I know how much that must hurt all of you ^-^. **

**Thanks to: **

**Wayward Thoughts, Emilys06, blackeyeshadow24, charmedprincess101, ravengirlxx, For The Love Of Cheese, kill100germs, AngelVidal, NightRaven3pointoh, xRoguexRavenx, DocumentKaze323111, Bookluver132, 12animecat, bluejasminerose, and MaddieLove95 for following! **

**Ravengirlxx, is-something-still-scaring-you, kill100germs, bluegremlin, NightRaven3pointoh, xRoguexRavenx, DocumentKaxe323111, 12animecat, MaddieLove95, and LitUpN'side for favoriting!**

**And of course, to NoWarningSignsNoAlibi, gabylokita41, jaytennis, fei. fie. fo. fum, Guest no. 1, Curse You Perry The Platypus, Guest no. 2, ravengirlxx, charmedprincess101, teen titan lover, yachtdepon, Chickie-Poo, Ravengirlxx, guest no. 3, RoguexRavenx, lily kate, and LitUpN'Side for reviewing! **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**March**_

When he opens the letter, he bursts out laughing.

Terra looks up from the book she's reading and raises her eyebrows. "What's up?"

"Nothing. It's just…you remember my old mate, Basil?"

Terra's eyebrows furrow. "Easily six foot? Sticky-up brown hair? Charismatic, charming, and sexy beyond belief?"

He glares sideways at her, "That's the one. Anyway, he just sent me this letter saying that he's back in town with his girlfriend, visiting his family and such, and he called me G-Man."

Terra rolls over so she's facing him. "No way! I haven't heard anybody call you that since we were in high school."

"I know! Geez, that was back in my crazy pranking days. Do you remember that time when me and Flash poured sleeping syrup in McFeeny's tea and wrote 'I am the original 40-year-old virgin' all over his face in permanent marker?"

"Yes! Oh, god, Feeny-Weenie was so pissed, it was hilarious!" Terra grins and laughs. "I miss the G-Man."

"I'm the same person, Terra. Maybe a few years older, but all in all the same." But even as he says it, he knows that he's lying. He's not the same person.

And he'll probably never be again.

Terra's clearly exercising those mind-reading powers he's sure she has, because she says quietly. "No, you're not. You've changed."

"I grew up, T. I matured. It happens." He avoids her eyes.

"I don't think you grew up, Gar. I think you grew out and away, but not up."

"Look, T, don't pull that mystical Yoda 'See what you are looking at you must' crap-"

"Shut up and I won't have to." She flips a sheet of hair over her shoulder imperiously, a teasing glint in her eyes. "You left behind some of the best parts of yourself in a misguided attempt to be more 'mature'. But maturity isn't changing who you perceive yourself to be. It's _accepting _who you know you are. And at your core, you are a laughing, joking, pranking machine, G-Man. Don't lose that."

Gar stares at her. "Do you write this all out in notebooks or something?"

"Nah. I just watch Dr. Drew on the Teen Mom reunion specials." Terra crawls out of the armchair. "Are you going to see Basil and crew or not?"

"Hell yeah, I'm going." He lightly taps the tip of her nose with his finger. "It's time to get the band back together."

**O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O**

Terra growls and clicks a button on her controller. "Stupid Banana-Crazed Monkeys. Making me lose my first place ranking ."

"Ah, what can I say, Peachy Darling? I'm just a winner." Gar grins from where he's sprawled out next to her, his focus completely on the screen.

"Are you? Then you'll definitely be able to handle this!" Terra clicks a flurry of buttons and-

"NO! YOU DID NOT JUST STEAL MY STAR!"

"Oh, but I did, G-Man. Who's the winner now?" Terra smirks as Gar wails. "It's Mario Party. And Peach is Mario's girlfriend! Whaddya expect? Of course I'm gonna win."

They've spent the last week or so playing old-timey video games on the Game Cube Lucas somehow managed to dig up, and Terra has been repeatedly kicking his ass on Mario Party, Zelda, Super Smash Brothers, and Diddy Kong Racing.

He groans and reaches for another gummy worm. "You're a demon."

"How does the saying go? 'Don't hate the player, just hate the game?'"

**O_O_O_O_O_O **

Flash agrees to host the reunion special at West Estate, provided that there's plenty of alcoholic beverages lying around and everybody comes an hour early to play a game.

So on March 15th at 7:00, Gar and Terra drive up to the West Estate.

"G-Man…I don't know if this is such a good idea." Terra says nervously, twisting the edge of her paint-splattered t-shirt in her hands. "Everybody in that house hates me."

"You haven't exactly given them reason not to. And Rachel has been a part of that group since freshman year. They think you stole me from her."

"I kind of did." Terra sighs. "Do I look okay?"

He gives her a once-over: tight, light washed jeans, cowboy boots, paint-splattered t-shirt, and long hair twisted up into an artist's bun.

"You'll be fine. I promise. Just be careful; they can smell weakness. And Maia and Sage have no reason to hate you, so you'll have two people to talk to."

"Oh, thanks, that helps a ton. Who's Sage?" Terra slams the car door as she exits.

"Basil's little sister. She's pretty cool, actually. Now, come on." He extends a hand. You'll be fine."

**O_O_O_O_O **

Terra is most definitely not fine.

The room is almost stiflingly awkward, a fact not helped by the arrival of Rachel and Mystery-Man, who is identified as Jason Todd.

Richard nearly coughs up a lung when Jason walks in, his face turning red with anger and embarrassment and oxygen deprivation.

No one really knows what happened between them, but they've constantly and continuously hated each other. Since the dawn of time/ freshman year, they've been blood enemies.

So, of course, that just adds to the running tension.

Karen just comes right out and says it. "What the hell do you think you're doin' here?"

Gar sighs inwardly and opens his mouth to defend her.

But Terra beats him to it.

"The same thing you are, Kare-Bear. I didn't realize you controlled the metropolitan area."

It's almost as if the world stops spinning and choruses of angels are singing '_oh, no she didn't!'_

"My name is Karen, Chickadee, and you better walk ya skinny little butt out that door before I drop kick it." Karen growls.

"Oh, I know your name, deary. Now, what's on the agenda, Flash?" Terra turns away, completely ignoring Karen's incredulous expression.

Gar isn't sure whether to applaud or hide behind the couch.

"We're playing this amazing couples game until Basil, Maia, and the crew get here!" Flash babbles excitedly.

"So, there are twelve rooms in the East Wing, okay? And in each of those rooms, there are security cameras that pick up everything that goes on in inside. Now, one at a time, the couples will go into the East Wing. They'll have a minute to decide which room they go into, but once inside, the doors automatically lock for seven minutes. The security camera may or may not be activated. If it is, the video feed will stream instantly to the media room, where everybody else will be watching. If it isn't, a clip from That 70's Show will entertain us. Also, the activated cameras change every round." Jessi grins evilly.

"What if you just don't talk?" Kole pipes up.

"A mash-up of Hannah Montana, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Cher Lloyd will be blasted into the room until you begin a conversation or engage in some sort of physical activity!" Flash laughs like an excited kid. "So who wants to go first?"

**O_O_O_O_O_O **

Argent and Isiah are nominated to go first, and after much scuffling and muffled shouting, the gang is settled in enough to watch the video, which involves a lot of awkward half-conversations and semi-answers, until Argent groaned and said, "Just kiss me already."

After that, well, Gar had to look away to avoid having flaming red ears.

Second was Adam and Kori, but much to Richard's dismay, they lucked into finding a room with a deactivated camera. Next came Kole and Joseph, who had a tickling match that lead to some questionable activity, and after that, Vic and Karen, who had a shouting match.

"And next…Rachel and Jason!" Flash brandished the slip of paper in the air, waving it close enough to Jessi's nose that she barely avoided a paper cut.

Jason bounds up and offers Rachel his hand. She takes it gingerly, and he half-drags her down the corridor.

As soon as they disappear, Terra turns to Gar. "Look, are you gonna freak out on me if they start making out on the screen?"

"Probably. Since when do you talk so casual?" He stiffens as Terra rests her head in his lap.

"New month, new leaf. I'm trying to be 'one of the cool kids'. Spite my father and all that."

"Rock on, dude. Righteous."

Terra laughs, a few strands of hair falling out of her painter's bun.

And then the screens roar to life and Jason and Rachel appear.

They start out talking. Jason cracks a joke and Rachel bursts out laughing.

Gar scowls.

And he keeps scowling when they play hand games and laugh some more and talk about a movie they saw.

But it's when they begin to kiss passionately that he loses it.

He moves Terra's head and jumps up. "Flash, what room are they in?"

"Uh, second one down? Why do you- aw, no, Gar, don't do it-"

"G-man, calm down." Terra's voice is soothing, but Gar ignores them both.

He strides to the East Wing and pauses for a moment in front of the door. He can hear Jason and Rachel in it, but he composes himself and tries to look absolutely calm.

Pushing the door open, he strides in, all confidence. "Hey, guys, I just needed to get my- WHOA, WHAT IS THAT? ARE YOU TWO PLAYING TONSIL HOCKEY?"

Rachel and Jason frantically disengage, looking ruffled and embarrassed.

"Gar-!" Rachel runs her hands through her tangled hair.

"Well, Jason, you sly dog, looks like we've got something in common, eh? Yep. I've been there, and my friend, my friend, my friend!"

He can practically hear Richard and Flash rolling around laughing.

"Uhm…" Jason looks confused. "Thanks?"

"My man! Well played, sir. Well played!" He turns to leave and then acts like he's forgotten something. "Oh, and Rachel? That bloodstained article of clothing you left at my house that one time? You know, when we did the- uh-huh, you remember! Yeah, feel free to just come and get it whenever you're free. Seriously, anytime, just pop in. Latah!"

And with that, he strolls out, shutting the door on his way.

_Yeah, baby._ He thinks as he walks up the hallway. _The G-Man is back. _

**O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O**

"I cannot believe you did that!" Basil laughs. "Man, you deserve a gold medal for that one."

"Right? It was freaking amazing!" Flash clutches his sides, still shaking with laughter.

Richard says nothing, only glares at Kori and Adam and downs another Miller 64.

"So, Basil, is it just you and Sage, or do you have any other siblings?" Adam leans forward in his chair.

"Oh, god, no. I'm the oldest, and then there's Fade. After that there's Kip and Pete and Linus- Pete and Linus are twins- and then there's Steffan. Sage is the youngest and she's the only girl."

"There's seven of you? Damn." Terra, whose opted to sit with Gar in the guy's circle says, tipping back her red Solo cup. **(A.N. Cue rousing chorus of 'Red Solo Cup! I fill you up! Let's have a party! Let's have a party!' :D) **

"Seven, and only one has our mom's hair. Linus is lucky; Mom's hair is amazing."

"Bas!" Maia calls from the female circle. "You wanna tell how we meet, or shall I?"

Maia isn't what Gar expected for Basil. With his stunning good looks and charming personality, he could pull any girl he could ever want. Beauties abounding.

Maia, however, is small-ish and petite looking , with large square glasses and shoulder-length wavy blonde hair. She's not ugly at all, but she's not up to Basil's usual Bombshell standards.

And yet, Basil looks at her like she is his sun and he wants nothing more than to orbit around her. His adoration is clear in his eyes, shining through whenever he glances at her merrily chatting away.

Gar grins.

Basil laughs. "So, I'm in this library cramming for a final. And as I'm walking out, I'm repeating to myself all these facts. And I said one wrong or something, because I hear this 'Actually, fraction theorem number one deals with equivalent fractions, not fractions of fractions'. I turn around and Maia's just standing there, cool as nothing, giving me math advice. So, I do what any guy in danger of flunking his midterm would do. I ask her on a study date."

"Only, we didn't do very much actual studying." Maia smiles. "It was more making out."

"Best study session of my life," Basil smirks.

"This is all very cute and fluffy, and if I didn't have a bone to pick with a certain nit-wit, I would totally vomit from a sugar overdose. But I do, so if Garfield Mark Logan would kindly get his butt over here now!" Rachel grabs Gar by the hand in much the same way as Jason grabbed her.

Richard sighs and downs another beer.

Pulling him away from the table, she drags him out of the room, and he's too surprised and apprehensive to notice Terra follow them.

**O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O **

"So, are you still infatuated with me or what?" Rachel says bluntly as soon as she's locked the door.

"Aren't we in the East Wing?"

"Nobody's watching. They're all cooing over the Basil/Maia love story and laughing at Sage's stories. Answer the question."

"Why're you asking?"

"Why do you think? Don't be an idiot, Gar, it doesn't become you. Are you or aren't you?"

"I'm married."

"That's not what I asked you, Logan." She steps closer so close that he can feel her breathing.

"So what if I am? Obviously you're not, so it doesn't mean anything." He looks away.

"Whoever told you that?" Rachel tilts her head up.

"You did. When you made out with Jason."

"I understand if you're pissed at me, but it's obvious you're not happy with Terra."

He shakes his head. "That's where you're wrong. I am happy with Terra. She's…bringing back the real me. The one that I haven't been for quite a while. I think I might be growing to love her."

"That's amazing. Throw in a romantic kiss or two, roll the credits with the Landon Pigg song, and you've got a romcom. Look, Gar, she's lying to you."

"About?"

"That dude who attacked her? Doesn't exist."

"What dude? Terra never mentioned that." Gar shifts back through his memories, trying to recall if Terra had ever say

"Are you serious? Terra told me that she lied to you!" Rachel runs her hands through her hair repeatedly, mussing it beyond repair.

"Terra never mentioned anything about being attacked or threatened! Are you okay?"

"Then why did you - Dammit, that bitch is good." Rachel stalks away.

"What are you talking about?" Gar shakes his head. "Are you okay?"

"No, it's just that-UGH!" She throws her hands in the air, stalks over, and presses her lips to his.

He knows, he _knows_ that it's _wrong_ and that he should _absolutely not _be doing it, but he kisses her back anyway. He kisses her further and further and further until he literally gasps for air.

When he pulls away, she keeps her arms around his neck.

"I missed you." He says quietly.

"Shut up and kiss me." She breathes back.

He's all too ready to oblige.

**O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O_O**

Terra Jeannette Markov Logan stares at the screen in Flash's media room, the blood slowly draining out of her clenched fists, leaving them stark white.

She watches silently as Gar and Rachel kiss on the screen, never moving, almost statue like in her stature. The only flaw in her stone-like visage are the two tears slowly making tracks down her porcelain cheeks.

She thinks of the dollhouse she kept when she was little. The mother was tiny and blonde, and the father was dark-haired and constantly laughing. All the children loved each other and she always made they all got goodnight kisses.

In her own household, her mother was tiny and blonde, but she was also timid and quiet, scared into cowardice by yelling matches she always lost and angry hands she never could avoid.

Her father was blond, also, though. And he never laughed.

He only coldly calculated when he was in a good mood and screamed and hit and drank when he wasn't.

Her siblings hated her. They always had, even though Terra couldn't remember doing anything to deserve it.

Two more tears fall down already glimmering tracks.

She curses herself silently for being so naive as to think that Gar would eventually fall for her. That maybe if she didn't push and tried hard enough and stayed around for long enough, he'd grow to love her.

And they'd have kids and he'd laugh at all her stupid geeky jokes and kiss her like it was their very first time and she'd never forget to tell her children that she loved them. She'd show them, not with possessions or empty words, but with actions that they were her life.

And she could finally stop feeling guilty about keeping so many secrets and telling so many lies.

She could be better. Different.

But that's the thing. She doesn't know how to be any different that how she already is. All her life, she's seen her father, cold and calculating, never betraying any premise of emotion. That's all she knows, lying, cheating, scheming and charming with whatever she's got to get what she thinks she wants.

She yanks at her bun, snapping the hair tie and sending hair flying everywhere. She rips at her clothing until large gapes appear in the fabric. She tears at her hair and cries, mascara sliding down her cheeks.

Black tears from a black soul.

She scratches at her skin desperately, the long pink tracks drawing all the poison and anger out of her.

It was how she'd managed to always remain quiet and calm and timid. She let the anger flow out of her with the blood, let the defiance spatter on the sink and on the floor.

_You deserve this, Terra. _A voice says from the very back of her head. _You're a liar and a murderer. You took an innocent life and then pretend it didn't happen._

Her sobs become audible, gasping, jarring, ugly things that scar her as they force themselves up her throat and out of her mouth.

_Pain. _

She scratches even more, drawing blood and sending red spatters across the white tiled floor. Blood mixes in with the tears and paints the tips of her hair a stunning red.

_Red. _

Her vision fades in and out, blocked by scarlet flushes and splotches. She gasps for breath, her air intakes becoming shorter and shorter as her lungs expand frantically.

_Black. _

Her stone limbs unfurl, flailing and twitching, knocking chairs and tiles and sending thing scattering across the floor.

Her head snaps back and hits the tile, and her madness gives way to the cold, comforting black that she so desperately longs for.

_She thought that love was gonna fight. She thought that love was gonna take her home. She thought that love was gonna save her. _

_But love just never showed. _

**A.N. Alright, guys. A few matters of business: **

**Yes, Terra did just totally flip out. **

**Yes, Rachel is not acting like herself. Yes, there is an explanation for this. No, I am not going to tell you what it is.**

**Yes, this chapter focused more on March 15****th**** then March as a month. You can rest assured knowing that I will give a very detailed synopsis of March in April, when stuff really starts going down. **

**Trust me, Children, stuff is about to go down. Anybody interested in why this whole 'Terra's a murderer' thing has appeared twice now? **

**Review? No pitchforks, please. Shiny things distract me. **


	17. April, 2013

**A.N. Umm. Hi. **

**Okay, so I go to a performing arts school, a lot like the one in Fame, except worse. I love it there, and it's not nearly as hard as I thought it'd be, but every third quarter, we have these lovely things called Third Quarter Presentations, where you basically spend all of third quarter working on the topic/connection/experiment/whatever your grade level is doing and then everyone in the school presents for their presentation teachers. These things are your third quarter grade, and if you don't pass them, you can't pass second semester. And if you don't pass second semester, it's not fun. So I had that, and then I had all sorts of Piano, Cello, and Voice tests, and then I fought with and eventually lost my best friend in the entire world, and it was just a bad quarter. So, yes, I haven't updated, and I can't do 'Thank Yous With Call- Me-Crazy-Cuz I Am.' and I'm super sorry. I'll be better…I hope :) **

**One thing, and then onward: **

**OMIGOSH, I just gotta say thanks to Mrs. Dylan-Lightwood-Vashkov for practically beta-reading this chapter! LOVE YOU! **

**Happy reading!**

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**April **_

Garfield Mark Logan has a deep-seated, irrational hatred for all waiting rooms. It's been a part of him since he read 'Oh, The Places you'll go', always hating the sterility, the quietness, the feeling that he was stuck in time. .

However, he'd previously thought that he hated them all equally.

He's realizing now that he doesn't. Because, out of all the waiting rooms he's visited over his twenty-three years, the one in Arkham Asylum is easily the worse.

He's not alone. Richard, Flash, Jessi, Kori, and Rachel are with him, but it's not helping him at all. Especially having Rachel, because they both know they're the reason she's in here.

"Mr. Logan?" A sweet, petite looking nurse calls out, scanning the waiting room. Gar practically bolts up out of his chair and bounds over to here.

"What's going on? Is she okay? What brought this on?" He demands, locking his eyes on her.

"In a moment. I'll also need a Miss Jessica Hexlin and a Mr. Reginald Brown to come with us." The nurse looks up expectantly.

Jessi hesitantly stand up and walks over, looking a lot less surprised than Gar felt or Rachel exhibited.

"_Reggie_?" Rachel spits, practically bristling. "Figures. Satan and her helper, right?"

"_Shut up,_ Rachel." Richard hisses back, seeing the look on Gar's face.

"Why are Jessi and Reggie necessary?" Gar says slowly.

"Didn't you know? They were the ones that brought Mrs. Logan in on her previous visit." The nurse smiles, not knowing the bombshell she'd just dropped.

**O_O_O_O_O_O_O **

"Here's the room, " The mystified male nurse says, confused at the frosty silence within the group, shaking her head as he walks away.

"So, _Jessica_," Gar spits, turning to the nervous looking woman. "Would you mind telling me why I have to track down a certain Reggie Brown? And why you took Terra to a _mental institution_?"

"Terra got into some trouble. Fell in with a bad crowd, the same one I'd been in. She needed help, I gave it to her." Jessi glares, but Gar can hear the tremor in her voice.

"_Don't lie to me." _He growls.

Jessi deflates. "It's not my story to tell." She gestures to the door in front of them. "You need to talk to her."

**O_O_O_O_O_O_O **

When he walks in and sees her, he doesn't understand why it took almost a month to stabilize her. She seems perfectly normal, dressed in a hospital gown with her hair loose and flowing, sitting cross-legged on her bed.

But when she turns her gaze on him and he sees the whirlpool of madness and emotion whirling beneath her gaze, he understands.

"Hello, Garfield."

She doesn't spit the words, but there's an undercurrent of bitterness and betrayal that makes sure each syllable cuts him like a knife.

"Terra-"

"I assume you'd like to know why I've previously visited this fine establishment." She says coldly.

"That'd be nice."

She lays back down on her bed and pats the spot next to her. He hesitantly joins her, tendrils of her hair tickling his skin.

"Do you remember that vacation I took with my father about….Five years ago? To Mexico City?"

"Yes?"

"While there, my father and I…had an argument. I ran out of our hotel, crying and tried to hail a taxi. Before I could, I was…kidnapped, if you will. A few men noticed the diamonds I wore and figured that someone must be willing to pay a good deal of money for my safe return. They took me to an abandoned apartment building and held me there for about a week. They didn't treat me poorly; it would've reflected badly on the ransom they were trying to wring out of my family. As much as my father loathes me, a kidnapping would look bad on the family's records. So he paid the ransom and shipped me back to Gotham." Terra gives a wry smile. "I'm sure you noticed that I was different when I came back. I was a…wild child? Reckless and determined to erase all memory of that week. I fell in with a group of criminals…I did some horrible things. And then I found the Hive, and I begged them to let me in."

"The Hive?"

"Only the greatest teen gang in Gotham's history. Every bad teen you can think of was apart of that gang- even your darling Rachel's lackeys. Jade was one of them. Reggie another. And of course, let's not forget your friend Flash's new toy."

"Jessi was apart of the Hive?"

"Jessi _ran_ the Hive. She took one look at me and told me that I was in for some intensive training if I planned on joining. Took me under her wing. Taught me how to use a knife." Terra rolls on her side. "Reggie was her second in command, and he adored her. Loved her more than life itself. When she left, for some man she fancied herself in love with, he practically died. Anyway, one day, we're walking through the shadier parts of town and this dude jumps out. I was stupid enough to wear my Markov watch and he recognized it. Tried to jump us, do the same thing those guys in Mexico did. Well, I wasn't going to live that again, so we fought back. We managed to get away and ran. As we were running…this woman begins to follow us. Yells at us to slow down, says she only wants to help. At that point, I didn't trust anything but Jessi and Reg, so when she grabbed my shoulder to slow me down, I pulled a knife and stabbed her in the stomach."

"Did…did she die?"

"You don't live through a stab like that, Gar. " Hot tears escape Terra's eyes as she sits up and uses her hair as a curtain to hide her face.

"Who was she?"

"She was a really, really, good woman. She had a family and a job and _life_. And in a matter of seconds, I'd taken it from her. I didn't have a choice; I thought she was going to attack us. So I eliminated the threat."

Revulsion floods through Gar, for a moment, that the woman he'd touched, he'd _loved_ was a…

"A murderer." Terra chuckles humorlessly. "You never could hide what you felt. I can't tell you how much I regret it, but…Afterwards, I flipped a switch. Basically, I did what I did at Flash's party. Totally destroyed myself. Jessi and Reg took me to Arkham. Got me treated. It didn't help that I'd…made some bad decisions and ended up losing the baby I didn't even know I was carrying. I screamed every night, scratched myself, had terrible nightmares. I still do, as I'm sure you've noticed."

"What…what was her name? The woman?"

Terra sighs and touches her forehead to her knees. "You don't want to know."

And deep in Gar's mind, he understands that she's not lying. That he does not want to know who the delicate, gentle, fun-loving girl he thought he knew stabbed in the dark.

**O_O_O_O_O_O **

Once Gar leaves, Terra leans against the small window in her room and sighs. She stays like that for awhile, until the door opens and she jumps a little. A man enters, his nametag identifying him as a volunteer called Joshua Bard.

"Is there anything you need?" He says eagerly. "I mean, uh, can I get you anything? 'Cause you've been staring out that window for a long time, and I was wondering if you needed anything, since I saw you and everything. But I'm not a stalker, I promise. I don't go around watching pretty girls in mental hospitals, they just assigned you to me, so I thought I'd come see you. Not that you're an assignment or anything, but- oh, whatever." He covers his face with his hand and sighs. "I'm not, uh, good at this. At all."

"I kind of figured that." She says coldly, hoping to deter him from staying.

But all he does is smile and sit down on her bed. "Legit, though, is there anything I can get you?"

"I don't think you can help me. But thank you." It's a clear dismissal, and yet he doesn't leave.

"I also just wanted to tell you that, uh….wow, this is awkward. I wanted to say that…so, it's our policy that with high-risk patients, a volunteer has to accompany any visitors they might get. And when your husband came in, I was the volunteer. I didn't hear what you talked about, but I could tell it was pretty serious."

"Ah. So you're here to condemn me to hell? I think you might be a bit late." She imbues as much venom as she can in the words, but he still doesn't get the hint.

"No, actually. I just wanted to tell you that I don't think you're a terrible person. You might've done a terrible thing, but that…it doesn't define you, is what I'm trying to say." He looks down at the floor, a blush rising in his cheeks.

She turns and studies him fully. He's very tall, taller than any man she's previously seen. His hair is orange-red and his eyes are brown. His limbs are gangly and awkwardly long, and he stands like he's self-conscious.

But he refuses to leave, so there must be something special about him.

"It doesn't define me." She says thoughtfully, for his sake. "So what, I should get off scot-free?"

"I'm not gonna punish you for this, if that's what you mean. You're already hurting yourself more than I could ever hurt you. I can see you're at war inside, and…I dunno, I thought it was time that you won."

Before she can stop herself, she's hurtled into his arms and has begun sobbing.

"Mrs. Logan?" He says, panic in his voice. "God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to, I just can't really control what I say. It's gotten me into all sorts of trouble and I just-"

"Shut…up." She sobs. "And don't call me Mrs. Logan."

He tilts her face up. "Then what should I call you?"

She thinks for a moment. _I'm not Terra anymore. _She thinks. _I don't want to be._ "Call me Tara." She says. "And it turns out, there is something I need."

He looks relieved. "Okay, what?"

"Cut my hair." She says.

**O_O_O_O_O_O **

A smiling, plump nurse hands Gar his coat as he prepares to leave the asylum.

"Here you go, sir!" She beams. "All clear! We have to check, you know, to make sure nobody brings anything…unhelpful into our facilities."

"Right." Gar nods and inwardly rolls his eyes. It's the second time he's been checked, and he's starting to suspect that the nurse just wants to go through his stuff.

He exits the search room and looks around the waiting room, spotting Flash's red hair and making his way over to him.

"So how is she, man?" Flash says gently.

"She's angry. And bipolar. And betrayed. How is she supposed to be?" Gar sighs. "I'm a terrible person."

"No, you're not. You're just-" Flash stops as Rachel steps out of a room, flanked by two guards.

"Mr. Logan?" One of them says brusquely.

"Uh, yeah?" Gar stammers.

"We'll need you to accompany us. We're taking Ms. Roth into custody."

"What the-why?"

"She was found with contraband. We'll explain more later." The officer takes Rachel by the arm and leads her away, leaving Gar to follow silently.

**O_O_O_O_O_O **

_**Three Weeks Later **_

"_What_ happened, Master Logan?" Lucas says incredulously as he measures Gar for his best man's tuxedo.

"Terra had a mental breakdown at Flash's house and is now in an institution. Jessi and Reggie and Jade were all apart of the Hive, which Terra was also apart of, before she stabbed a woman and triggered her bipolar syndrome. Jessi left the Hive, I still don't know why, and now she's best friends with Rachel, who was caught with Trigon on her in the aforementioned mental institution." Gar flops down on the sitting room couch and sighs as Lucas puts the tape measurer away.

"Trigon?"

"It's not a drug; not really. It's more like a steroid- it enhances or changes behaviors. It's not illegal or anything, but it can be seriously addictive. And of course, Rachel had tons of it in her bloodstream; so much, they're thinking about placing her in a treatment facility. It's why she's been acting so crazy lately."

"And Miss Hex, she's a former…gang leader?"

"Seems like it. When did things get so…out of control, Lucas?" Gar groans. "I don't think it's been quiet around here since last year."

"Love tends to muddle things up, sir. Makes them louder." Lucas says sympathetically.

"I hate it. I really, truly, honestly do."

"You really, truly, honestly hate what?" Jessi says from the doorway, making Lucas jump slightly and causing Gar to roll off the couch in surprise.

"Jessi? How the- _ouch_- did you even get in here?" Gar gingerly rubs his back, sending a rueful glare at the girl in the doorway.

"Former gang leader, kid. Don't insult me." She turns to Lucas. "I think Gar wants to ask me a few questions."

Lucas catches the hint and gracefully exits.

"So." Jessi sits down languidly. "Wonderful weather we're having."

"Why'd you join the Hive?" Gar decides to start out bluntly.

"Gotham's not kind to street kids. The Hive offered me a home. I took it. Back then, it was run by a dude. No one knew his real name; we all called him Blood, because it was rumored he'd killed so many he could bathe in it. He saved me from a couple guys in an alley. Took me under his wing, kind of like I did for Terra. Practically raised me."

"How do you know Reggie?"

A flash of pain appears in Jessi's eyes. "Reggie…god, Reggie. I don't regret leaving the Hive, but I regret him."

"Why?"

"Blood got him about the same time as me. Him and me, we were best friends. Almost siblings. We grew up together, did everything together, and we were even closer because we both knew we were different. We didn't belong; we didn't want to be there. But Reggie, well, he fell in love with me. And I tried to love him, I really did. I didn't understand why I couldn't, but it just didn't work out. We were too close to ever work out, but he couldn't…he wouldn't understand it."

"Why'd you leave? If it was the only home you'd ever known…"

Jessi smiles wryly. "I left because of Flash."

"You knew Flash back then?"

"No. I'd never actually talked to him or anything. But after Terra stabbed that woman...I started to lose faith in the Hive. By that time, I'd already replaced Blood as leader, but…it was different than I'd always dreamed it would be. It didn't fill any holes inside or anything. I tried to go around, to act like nothing was different, but I couldn't, and Reg knew. He knew I wanted out. So, he planned one last heist, on one of the richest families in Gotham. We went in, grabbed some stuff, and left. But as we were leaving…A boy about our age came in to the dining room, where we were making our escape. Reg had already left, and it was just me and the boy. He told me…he told me that he didn't know who I was, but just by looking at me, he could tell I was too good for that life. He said I could be better. He offered to help me."

"What'd you do?"

"I hit him over the head with a candelabra and hightailed it out of there. But I never could stop thinking about what he'd said: that I was too good for that life. That I could be better. It was those words that motivated me to leave. And god, when I left, Reggie was heartbroken. He fell apart, broke into little pieces, and it was all my fault. He followed me into GCC, tried to get me to come back. When I wouldn't, he turned to drinking. And Rachel. God, I wanted to help her. But if I had, they would've realized I was from the Hive, and I had enough red in my ledger to lock me up for a long time. So I kept quiet."

"Did you ever see the boy again?"

Jessi smiled wistfully. "He was waiting for me on the steps of Logan Lodge."

"The boy was _Flash_?"

"Mmhmm. I practically had a panic attack until I figured out he didn't remember anything." Jessi turns very serious. "You can't tell him. You can't tell him _any_ of this."

"I won't- If you tell me one more thing."

"Make it quick. I've got class in an hour." Jessi tucks a strand of pink behind her ear absentmindedly.

"Who was the woman? The one that Terra stabbed?"

"You-"

"Yes, I do want to know, Jessica Hexlin, so please, just spit it out."

"Arella Roth."

"_What_?" Gar's stomach drops into his Converse.

"The police system is really corrupt, Gar. They probably didn't even tag the body. And if they sent any kind of notification, it would've gone to Rachel's father, and we both know he wasn't…in his right mind. He wouldn't have told her, so she doesn't know."

"Terra killed Rachel's _mother_?"

"It's a small, small, small, twisted world. It's time we all realized it. You were raised in privilege, Gar, and even though you've had to deal with some terrible things, you still live in fairytale land. But out there, in the city? Outside of the Lodge? It's a harsh, horrible reality. For those of us that aren't Waynes or Logans or Wests or Markovs, life is _hard_. Terrible things happen, and they always will. " With that, she stood up and headed towards the door.

She stopped, however, before she left. "Don't hate her, Gar. Trust me on this one: she hates herself enough for both of you."

**A.N. So, just to recap: **

**Jessi ran a teen gang that pretty much every villain in this story was apart of. **

**Reggie is See-More **

**Terra stabbed Rachel's mother, but Rachel doesn't know **

**Terra got a new love interest! WOOT WOOT, JOSHUA! Sorry, I just wanted to write the scene in the hospital for FOREVER! **

**What'd you think of Terra stabbing Rachel's mother? Of Joshua? Of Reggie being See-More? Of the chapter in general? **

**REVIEW?**


	18. May, 2013

**A.N. Why, hello there! **

**Uhm...**

**How bout them Lakers, eh? **

**Moving on...**

**Thanks to crazedduke, RAEXBB4EVER, Guest, Katwizzle, Teen Titan lover, Curse you Perry the Platypus, charmedprincess101, Guest, J2 Web, and Mrs. Dylan Lightwood Ivashkov , and J2Web for reviewing! **

**Double thanks to J2Web for favoriting! (alright, it's been like nine months since I started doing these thank-yous and I still can't spell that. Something's wrong here)**

**And finally, thanks to ChicInGlitter, sugar ninjas, J2 Web, Mrs. Morpheus, PrettyKitty126, and dbfox007 for following! **

**AND THANKS SOOOOOOO MUCH TO MRS. DYLAN LIGHTWOOD IVASHKOV FOR JUST BEING AMAZING IN GENERAL AND LETTING ME FANGIRL OVER FANG IN A PILOTS JACKET 3!**

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop**_

_**May**_

"I still don't get why I have to be here." Gar rolls his eyes. "I'm sure you'll be able to pick out a wedding cake without my help."

"You have to be here because, as my best man, it's your job to protect me from oh-let's-not-forget-Karen. " Flash sighs. "You'd think I was marrying her friend or something."

"Aren't you marrying her friend?"

Flash groans. "Nooooo..."

"So you don't want a marble/strawberry ice cream cake?" Jessi sighs as she walks up behind them, setting a plate of cake on the nearby table. "But it taste so good!"

"I know something that'd taste better." Flash winks. Gar tries to disguise his laughter with a cough.

"Oh?" Jessi links her hands behind Flash's neck and rises up on her tiptoes. "And what's that?"

Flash leans down and says, his voice low and sultry, "Mustard."

Gar doesn't even try to hide his laugh.

They're in Holis, a comfy bakery with cake decals on the wall and red poles by the door, and Gar's pretty sure he's gained at least five pounds from all the cake he's eaten. Flash and Jessi have kept a running banter throughout the day, and combined with Karen's self-declared wedding planner swag it's been very entertaining, at least.

Except, Rachel's there, and because she's there he can't focus on the cakes or on anything but her and how she got so much Trigon in her bloodstream. Gar's naturally imaginative, and his mind is running rampant coming up with scenarios, including a one involving black holes and alien mind control powers.

"Am I the only one taking this seriously?" Karen demands. "The wedding's next month!"

Jessi gasps. "Is it really?" Turning to Flash, she exclaims, "Did you know we were getting married next month?"

"Man, I didn't even know we were getting married!"

"Careful. Karen might implode if you push her any further." Rachel intones, turning a page in her book quietly.

Gar looks at her out of the corner of his eye. She seems thinner than usual and there's shadows underneath her eyes, but she seems better, at least, then how she'd been at Flash's party. She seemed..._Rachel._

Only, Gar knew and Jessi knew that _Rachel_ was built on lies, and to tell her the truth would be to rip away her foundation.

"Why are looking at me like I have a second head, Gar?" Rachel snaps. " Do I have something on my face?"

"Sorry, Rach, your attitude was just so eye-catching, I couldn't look away." Gar shrugs. "Maybe you could try smothering it with a pillowcase?"

"Anything to get away from here." Rachel mutters.

"Alright." Karen smiles. It looks painful. "Are we settle on the marble/strawberry cake?"

"I don't know, Kare-Bear, that macadamia nut looks pretty good." Flash grins as Karen growls at him.

"I'm allergic to macadamia nuts." Karen seethes.

"Oh, I know." Flash stretches his arm languidly over Jessi's shoulders. "Well, mates, are we done here?"

"You're not British, Flash."

"NOT YET!"

**XxxxxxxxX**

Terra Jeanette Markov-Logan screams and throws a hairbrush at her mirror, sending glass shards scattering across the floor of her room.

"Mrs. Logan, please calm down." A firm looking woman says loudly.

Terra wrenches her fingers through her short hair and screams, _"Don't call me that!"_

Hurling a shoe at the woman's face, she glares at the other attendants, silently daring them to try and calm her. She's in a mental institution, for godsakes. They should know better.

"Go get Joshua. Now." The nurse on the floor says. "Now, dear, there's no need to fight. We just want to give you some meds."

_"I'M NOT CRAZY!"_ Terra wails.

"We know, honey, we know." The nurse speaks soothingly, but Terra feels hysteria rising in the pit of her stomach. "No one thinks you're crazy."

Terra glares and hurls a pillow at the nurse.

"Tara. Please, please, please calm down." Joshua's voice is low and calming and still, Terra feels herself slipping away.

" 'm not crazy." She says sullenly. "I'm not."

"We're all a little crazy, Tara." Joshua says. "Now tell me what's up."

"She refused her meds and flipped when we called her Mrs. Logan." The nurse says ruefully.

"Well," Joshua says slowly,"It isn't her name."

Terra looks up quickly, tears beginning to well in her eyes.

"Her name is Tara."

And Terra is suddenly filled with happiness, a great, bubbling joy that bursts out of her in short gasps of laughter.

The nurses visibly relax and Joshua beams brightly. She obediently takes her meds and lays down when they tell her to, and she doesn't even fight when they hook a sedative into her arm. But when they all begin to file out and Joshua makes to follow, she says, struggling with her thick tongue, "Stay."

And he shrugs to his coworkers like 'what do you want me to do?' And he climbs next to her in the bed and says, solemnly, "You should know that I quote Star Wars. A lot."

"I think I'll survive."

"I hope so, young Jedi. Epic Yoda impression I have."

**XxxxxxxxxX**

Garfield Mark Logan fights back laughter as Flash moves a piece on the Sorry board and says, "Sucks to suck, dude. Sorry!"

"No, you're not, you crotchpheasant." Gar huffs. "I plead the 1st."

"Freedom of religion?" Flash says, raising an eyebrow.

"And freedom of speech. And freedom of kicking-your-butt."

Rachel sighs. "Are we ten, guys?"

"No!" Flash cries. "I'm a very mature seven-and-a-half."

"That's my man." Jessi pats Flash's head proudly.'"Anywhere else we need to go, Kare-Bear?"

"It's not too late to go brunette," Karen says hopefully.

"I'm not dying my hair! I don't care if it clashes!"

Gar grins and hops up. "I'm gonna go see if I can find the to-do list."

Gar whistles as he walks into his office and begins ruffling through the mess on his desk. Shuffling aside packets of paper, he stops when he sees a folder with a bright green posted-note on top.

It simply says, in Lucas's careful script, _these arrived from the institution today._

Gar sifts through the folder and his brow furrows as he begins to read.

They're divorce papers, and Terra's name swims in front of his eyes and he sees her laughing and smiling and he sees her hair, loose and flowing, and he suddenly feels more alone than he has in a long time, because the papers in front of him say clearly that _she_ doesn't want him anymore and _he_ honestly doesn't want this anymore, and he's falling and he can't find anyone to catch him.

**XxxxxxxX**

The moment Gar leaves, Rachel Roth makes her own exit, stating that she has to go to the bathroom.

She heads to the nearest bathroom and rips off her coat, frantically searching through the threadbare pockets until she finds the small, neatly wrapped bundle. Tearing at it with her nails, she finally frees five small white pills.

She greedily gulps down all five and turns on the faucet to drown out her loud sigh.

Almost immediately she feels weightless and free of her body. She giggles and leans against the cabinets, feeling her eyes lose focus and not minding it at all.

It's not her first time experiencing weightlessness; she's been taking the pills since January, but even before that she knew.

It was how she'd gotten nicknamed Raven. She'd been addicted to a drug, nicknamed Prophecy because of the hallucinations it brought, and it had taken so much out of her that eventually, drowning in her dark clothing with her sunken eyes and ashy pale skin, she'd looked like a raven.

She finally turns off the faucet and stumbles as she reaches for the door. She's so happy she could cry, only she doesn't remember why she feels that way. She laughs a little, and for the first time this year, Rachel feels invincible.

**XxxxxxxX**

For the first time since she met him, Jessica Hexlin feels uncomfortable around Flash.

He senses it, too, because he's so flipping good at reading her and understanding her and being with her it makes her want to cry.

He slides his hand over hers and squeezes. "What's up?"

She forces a smile and says, "Nothing."

It's a lie and they both know it.

"Hey." He tilts her face up. "Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm here for good; nothing you say could ever make me leave you."

Her heart nearly bursts with love and she wants nothing more than to climb into his lap and tell him everything; the Hive, Rachel's mother, growing up as a street kid, that night at West Estate, all of it, because she can tell he means what he says.

Problem is, she remembers telling Reggie that she'd never leave him or the Hive, and she's pretty sure she meant it, too.

"Just some pre-wedding jitters." She smiles bravely and tosses her hair over her shoulder, the pink splaying across her back haphazardly.

"You sure?" Flash asks doubtfully.

"Very sure."

"Anything I can do to help?"

Jessi smirks and pushes him backwards, climbing on top of him and saying, "I'll get back to you on that."

She kisses him, hard and passionate, and before she loses herself to him, she can't help but think solemnly, what sad, twisted lives they lead.

And two doors down, Rachel Roth is stumbling and giggling as she becomes Raven once more.

And down the hall, Garfield Mark Logan is holding his head in his hands and crying, all the while wondering why he cares so much.

And in an asylum five miles away, Terra Jeanette Markov-Logan is laying in the arms of a slightly awkward volunteer, dozing as he sings her to sleep.

And in that very room, Jessica Hexlin bites back tears as her fiancée whispers that he loves her.

_What sad, twisted lives we lead. _

**A.N. So, yeah. **

**...**

**NEXT CHAPTER'S THE WEDDING! WOOT WOOT! SH**T GOES DOWN, SO REVIEW AND I'LL UPDATE FAST! **

**As a sneak peek, you guys should know that Reggie. f****s. sh**t. UP. HARDCORE-STYLE. **

**BYE! **

**REVIEW?**


	19. June, 2013: The Wedding

**A.N. Aloha! **

**Alright, I've got a lot of buisness to take care of before this AN is done: **

**1) Time for a fake-geography lesson! My version of Gotham is probably in Pennsylvania, right near the Appalachian Mountains, close to New York. Ish. **

**2) There's a lot of clothing description towards the middle of the chapter. I've included this because it ties into the show and because I find it interesting, but you can skip it if you want to. **

**3) Jessi's wedding dress: images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTjrzW3Cf8Gm586GsWc7D_w7yB5GHP1vTRJ5DydT3 3k0sfcKStS (I DO NOT OWN! LIKE, AT ALL!)**

**4) Thanks to JTTran, aceiscrazy420, and K-chan's Kisses for favoriting, 31Bravo , krs3927, Chapinateapot, Purplepox63010, redshadow17, Souls Resonate, and K-chan's Kisses for following, and K-chan's Kisses, Curse you Perry the Platypus, 123abc, charmedprincess101, Jess, Guest, Purplepox63010, and Guest for reviewing! **

**5) Please, no pitchforks after you read this? I'm sorry! It's nessecary! Have a virtual cookie! **

**6) I do not own ANYTHING! Not the dresses, not Teen Titans, not 'The Ice Is Getting Thinner'...and that's about it. Huh. **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop **_

_**June**_

The smell of roses and lilies lingers in the air. The orchestra is getting into place and the gentle plucking noises of tuning violins, violas, and cellos provides a background to the lulling conversations occurring among the arriving guests.

All appears calm, tranquil, and the guests are all pleasantly mulling about.

They have no idea that World War 3 is currently in progress backstage.

Gar sprints down the corridor, ivy crawling up the stone railing and sunlight dripping in and lighting his path. Argent is brandishing her signature tube of red lipstick while she and Kole frantically run past him, their eyes wild.

"You found them yet?" Roy grabs his arm as he runs past. Gar shakes his head briefly and sprints further.

Karen appears in front of him, her hair straggly and untamed, her dress unzipped and her face devoid of makeup. "GARFIELD MARK LOGAN, WHERE THE HELL ARE MY BRIDE AND GROOM?" She screams.

"I'm working on it, Kare," Gar huffs, coming to an abrupt stop. "But I think they've flown the nest."

"THEY CAN'T FLY THE FLIPPING NEST, IT'S THEIR FREAKIN' WEDDING!" Karen wails, pulling at her hair. "HOW COULD THEY DO THIS TO ME?"

"It is their wedding, Karen. They can technically do whatever they want." Gar says soothingly.

"We've spotted Jessi." Adam says shortly, running up to them just as Karen turns red.

"Where?"

"Top of the joint, Flash is suspected to be with her."

_My God,_ Gar thinks as he runs up the stairs to the very top of the castle, _This is like a freakin' NCIS episode_.

And it is a castle- they're currently in Trinity Hall, a couple of miles out of Gotham, an old place covered in purple flowers and shining ivy and almost stupidly picturesque, backed as it is with the snow-capped mountains.

It all calls for the perfect, most beautiful wedding almost ever.

Except, the bride and groom are apparently playing hooky.

Which kind of puts a dent in things.

Gar finally reaches the top and he breathes a sigh of relief when he sees both Jessi and Flash sitting on a blanket, dressed in their respective pajamas.

"What," Gar says slowly, "Are you two doing out here?"

"Watching the sky." Flash answers dreamily.

"But y...you're getting married in an hour and a half!" Gar splutters .

"There's always time for the sky, Garfield." Jessi rests her head in Flash's lap. "You rush to much, G. You gotta take life slower."

Flash nods and makes a sound of agreement.

Gar face-palms and grasps both their wrists, pulling them to their feet and down the stairs.

"Whoa, Gar!" Flash complains. "Easy with the merchandise!"

"Yeah," Jessi calls. "I mean, it's pretty much all he has."

"I've got you!" Flash cries.

"Only on days that end with 'y', though." Jessi smirks slightly.

"Oh!" Flash smacks his forehead with his free palm. "I totally get that."

"You guys are so weird," Gar mutters as they near the ground floor.

The moment he pulls them out of the stairwell, they are swarmed. Karen forcibly seizes Jessi and drags her to the bride's room, while Richard, his tie loose and his collar untucked, grabs Flash.

Gar follows them, closing the door behind him and tossing Flash his tie.

Flash catches it with one hand and gives an exaggerated bow of thanks. Gar glares at him half-heartedly and begins tightening his own tie. It's green, to match his suit, and he purposely leaves it a bit loose, just to annoy Richard, who glares at him and tightens his own red tie.

Flash ducks into the bathroom to change into his tux, leaving Richard and Gar alone.

Gar clears his throat awkwardly and opens his mouth to say something, but Kole throws open the door and pulls him out before he can.

"Wha- Kole, what's going on? I found Jessi and Flash-"

"This isn't about Jessi and Flash," Kole snaps. "It's about Rachel."

***O* **

She's standing in front of a mirror when he enters, her hands clasped in front of her and her head bowed.

She turns when she notices his presence, and the moment he truly sees her, his heart begins to beat faster.

The dress is made of a floating material that reaches her knees. It's white except for the simple, dark ribbon that ties around the waist, and it stands out against her gray-looking skin and dark hair.

"Hey, Gar." She says softly.

"Hey, Rachel."

They stand in silence for a little while, but eventually Gar hears Karen bellowing outside and he knows he has to speed this up.

"So, what's up?"

She stares at him. "The sky."

"And the ceiling."

"And the clouds."

"And…oh, whatever. Why won't you come out?" He nervously straightens his tie and sighs.

"What's the point?"

"Maybe that it's your _best friend's wedding_? And you're _kinda the Maid of Honor?" _

"Karen'll fill in for me."

"I'm still not hearing a reason why that would be necessary." Gar crosses his arms and waits.

Rachel sighs. "I don't have one. I just don't want to."

"Well, I would normally respect that, but as it is also _my_ best friend's wedding, I can't let you stay here."

Rachel laughs slightly. "I know you can't." She places her hands on her hips and blows a few tendrils of hair away.

"You look beautiful, by the way."

Rachel snorts and walks over to him. "Jessi looks beautiful. Kole looks beautiful. The flowers in that vase over there look beautiful. _I_ look awkward and out of place."

"Well, _I_ think you look beautiful, and have I ever lied to you before?"

"Depends. Are we counting 'withholding the truth' as lying?"

"Nope." He pops the 'p' as he looks down at her.

She tilts her head to the left and nods. "Okay."

He turns to go.

"Hey, Gar?"

"Yeah?"

She looks nervous and awkward, standing in front of him in her white dress. "Listen, uh…well, our lives are pretty jacked up right now, aren't they?"

"I'd agree with that."

"'Cause, I mean, I've got a drug problem and I have, like, no social skills, and your sort-of wife is in a mental institution at the moment and you don't really have anything going for you right now."

"This is true, but where're you going with it?"

She steps even closer and takes a deep breath. "So, what I wanna know is, why don't we be messed up together?"

Gar stares at her for a minute before he realizes that this is Rachel's way of asking him….out again.

So he bends down and kisses her softly, and he hopes that she picks up on his answer.

***O***

His palms are sweaty, and it's not even his wedding.

He's standing next to Flash, waiting quietly for the bride's procession to come down the aisle, and he can feel Flash's heartbeat thump, faster and faster.

The orchestra begins to play, and his palms get even sweatier as the doors on the other side of the ballroom open.

Little Sarabeth, Kori's niece, toddles out first, pulling an embarrassed looking Adam behind her, a princess tiara on her head and a basket clutched in her chubby hands.

Flash breathes out.

Sarabeth beams in the adorable way only little girls can, and speed-toddles toward Flash, who beams back at her and breathes a sigh of relief that only Gar hears.

The orchestra plays, a rendition of 'A Thousand Years', and Sarabeth is only feet away from Flash.

And the doors open once more, and out walk Karen and Vic.

Karen's dress is the same as Rachel's, only with a black-and-yellow striped bow, reminiscent of a bumblebee around the middle. Vic's tux is silver and blue, and he smirks slightly as Karen practically pulls him down the aisle, a slightly maniacal gleam in her eyes. Roy and Jade follow them, Jade's bow a deep, emerald green, and Roy's tux yellow and red, a newsboy cap jammed on his head jauntily. They walk arm in arm, almost too close for it to be appropriate. Then come Argent and Isiah –at this point, Gar is awestruck at how perfectly this has been planned and executed- with her red-and-silver bow and his brown-and-red tux, and they look so put-together and professional that Gar fights back the urge to straighten his own tie. And then, Kole and Joseph come, Kole with her pink-tinged hair and her blue bow and Joseph, his eyes shining and his purple tuxedo rippling as he walks. And finally, Kori and Richard. Kori looking stunning with her purple bow and Richard dashing in his red and green tux.

And then Jessi and Rachel enter, and the room goes surprisingly airless.

Jessi's dress is simple, with a silver drop-down waist and a full, floating skirt. It stands out against her pale skin, and, to Gar's endless amusement, it does _not_ clash with her bright pink hair.

Flash inhales sharply and holds it, and Gar can literally feel his heart thumping, and Jessi is beaming at Flash and Rachel's smiling shyly at him and he is so happy in that moment, he could die.

Jessi doesn't even make it all the way down the aisle.

***O* **

Reggie stands up halfway through her walk, and Gar's heart sinks.

Jessi pales when she sees him, and Rachel looks like she's barely stopping herself from scratching his eyes out. Flash looks from Jessi to Reggie and back again and sighs.

"It just couldn't go smoothly, could it?" Karen mutters sadly.

"Hey, Jessi." Reggie says smoothly. "Long time no see."

"Reg." Jessi says simply, crossing her arms.

"Wait, you two _know_ each other?" Flash asks incredulously.

"Know each other?" Reggie laughs harshly. "You think you're the first guy to fall in love with her?"

Flash slowly turns red, but it's Jessi who answers bitingly. "Nope. But he's damn well the only one I've loved back. Because you have to know by now, Reg." Jessi sighs. "I never loved you. I tried so hard to, but I could never manage it." She turns to Flash and speaks almost pleadingly. "It was always you for me, Flash. From the moment you could told me I could do better than the Hive, it was you."

Flash's eyes narrowed. "What the hell does the Hive have to do with this?"

***O* **

"You were apart of the Hive?" Flash asks slowly, dangerously.

They're in a tiny room behind the ballroom, and Gar has never seen Flash as angry as he is right now.

He swears silently.

"Y-yes, I was apart of the Hive, but I left-" Reggie cuts Jessi off, snorting as his eyes flash.

"Don't back off with honesty now, Jessi. Tell the 'Love-Of-Your-Life' that you _ran_ the greatest gang in Gotham history." He sneers.

Rachel gasps and Richard growls slightly.

"Flash-"

"Is it true?" Flash says deadly quiet.

"Don't be like this-"Jessi practically pleads.

"Is. It. True?" Flash enunciates each syllable and Gar groans inwardly.

"YES, OKAY?" Jessi explodes. "IT'S TRUE!"

Flash nods slowly. "So when were you going to tell me, Jess? Tonight? Next month? Next _year_?"

"I was always going to tell you," Jessi glares. "But honestly, Flash, how the hell was I supposed to say it?"

"SO YOU WERE JUST GOING TO KEEP LYING TO ME?" Flash roars. "JUST STOP LYING, JESS!"

"I'M NOT LYING TO YOU!" Jessi screams back, tears beginning to fall down her face. "AND WHY DO YOU CARE IF I RAN A GANG? DON'T YOU LOVE _ME_, NOT MY BACKGROUND?"

"I _DON'T_ CARE THAT YOU RAN A FREAKIN' GANG, I CARE THAT YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ABOUT IT!" Flash suddenly and rapidly deflates, slumping against the wall. "Everybody always _lies_ to me."

And in that moment, he seems so much like a child, confused and lost and betrayed, that Gar's heart breaks for him.

Jessi slumps to the floor, her beautiful wedding dress landing in silky white puddles around her. " I never lied about loving you, Flash. And I'm sorry for not telling you about my past. I was just…I'm still so _afraid_ that once you know that me, you won't want this one."

Flash kneels down in front of her and takes her face in his hands. "Hey. I told you, I'm not going anywhere. I love _you_, Jessica Hexlin,, and I love all of you."

"But you can't marry me." Jessi says, tears clogging her voice.

Flash hesitates, then nods. "I'm sorry. I can't."

Karen bursts into tears and buries her face in Vic's tuxedo.

And Flash hugs Jessi to his chest as she bursts into a fresh round of sobs.

"I'll go, um, tell everybody that there, uh, won't be a wedding." Kole says quietly.

"Jess," Flash strokes her forehead. "You know this isn't forever, right? I just…need some time to get to know you ."

"I thought you said you had the rest of your life to do that." Jessi says bitterly, tears still running down her face.

"I thought I did." Flash says quietly. "But god, Jess, I'm so, so, _so_ sorry."

"They always are." Jessi rubs at her eyes with her hands and pulls away from Flash. "I was sorry when I left the Hive."

Slowly standing up, she gives a watery smile and rips the pins out of her hair until it falls, free and pink, over her shoulders.

"I love you, Jessi." Flash says.

She nods once and slips the black diamond ring off of her hand.

Tossing it at him, she says, "Here. For when you find a girl you don't have to get to know."

_We're not the same, dear, as we used to be._  
_The seasons have changed and so have we._  
_There was little we could say, and even less we could do_  
_To stop the ice from getting thinner under me and you._

**A.N. Meh. I'm not really happy with how it turned out, but I wanted to get it out, so I'll live. **

**Shiny things distract me and make it harder to write, so no pitchforks, please :D **

**REIVIEW? **


	20. July 23rd, 2013

**A.N. Hey, y'all! **

**First off, WE PASSED TWO HUNDRED FRIGGIN' REVIEWS! Thank you all SOOOOOOOO much for supporting this story- you guys are really what keeps it going, you know? And I FRIGGIN LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU! **

**My last day of school was last friday, and after that all I have are Showcase rehearsals, so expect more updates! **

**This section of the story is going to be slightly different, because the story's winding down. I estimate maybe 5-7ish more chapters, and then I'll put Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop to rest, like it deserves. That being said, expect changing POVs, shorter sections, and the tying up of several plot lines :D **

**Thanks to booklover7161, Banana998, ttcouplesluver, RAE RAE ROTH LOGAN 21, theundesiredones, neveristoolate, Zoona, OneDirectionInfected, writinglovinglaughingliving, charmedprincess101, Purplepox63010, Guest, gabylokita41, Guest, Lettie, NightRaven3pointoh, and Teen Titan lover for reviewing, following, and putting FILAACS on your favorite list. **

**CUZ OMG GUYS I FOUND OUT WHY I COULDN'T SPELL FAVORITING RIGHT! **

**It's. Not. A. Friggin. Word. **

**hashtag Shoulda guessed that one. **

_**Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop**_

_**Tuesday, 2:17 p.m., Yoli's:**_

Rachel has grown to love the noise that is constantly present in Yoli's. The grinding, screeching sound of the expresso machine no longer makes her want to claw her ears off; in fact, she welcomes it. It's better than the stifling silence she's been faced with for the past months.

The drugs help, but all they do is distract, not solve. She has a few pills in her pocket, just in case she's overwhelmed or needs to forget, but as she fingers her apron pocket she knows she won't use them. It seems too cheap. Too easy. Her splitting headache, however, is not easy, and she inwardly winces as her head pounds.

"Rachel?" Jessi appears before her, looking small and fragile in a long, white sweater that reaches her knees and tights, with her dirty pink hair twisted up with a black clamp.

"You look like hell." Rachel says in a monotone, leaning over the counter to see her better.

"I've been through hell." Jessi hops up on the nearest table. "How's the addiction?"

Rachel winces inwardly at the word 'addiction.' "It's good. I'll tell it you called."

"Tell it it needs to get the hell away from you."

Rachel presses down the rising anger she feels. "What do you need, Jessi?"

"I need my best friend back." Jessi says plainly. "First it was Gar and then it was Jason and now it's the drugs and dammit, Rachel, the first guy I've ever loved just refused to marry me and I need you right now."

Rachel sighed and moved out from behind the counter until she was close enough to wrap an arm around Jessi's shoulders. "I know. I know I haven't been there for you and I know I'm a failure at being a best friend and I'm sorry."

Jessi wiped at her eyes. "God, I am an emotional wreck, you know that? I cry, I've gained at least ten pounds in mint/caramel ice-cream and all I want to do is watch The Notebook."

"Emotional upheavals will do that to you." Rachel spoke somewhat teasingly. "I think I said you guys were going too fast."

"Yeah, well," Jessi smiled slightly. "When it comes to waiting, I'm worse than a teen mom."

Rachel facepalmed. "In order to maintain the shreds of respect I have for you, I'm going to pretend like you didn't just say that."

_**9:03 p.m., Rachel's apartment:**_

Rachel signed loudly as Kole buried her face in a pillow and Jessi sniffed loudly.

"Why don't I own this movie?" Karen dabbed at her eyes with one of Rachel's pillowcases.

"It's just so...so romantic!" Kole whimpered slightly.

"It's The Breakfast Club!" Rachel cried incredulously. "How the hell is that romantic?"

"How the hell are you female?" Jessi snapped. "Do you have ovaries?"

"Yep. They're just hiding, along with your people skills and Karen's subtlety."

"Shut up!" Argent hisses. "Andy and Allison are speaking!"

Rachel hears a low chuckle behind her and out of her peripheral vision, sees a tall, lanky figure in her doorway.

She panics, for a second, because the soundless way they entered reminds her of Jason and how he would just appear, with smirks and pills and kisses that tasted like pine.

But it isn't Jason; she soon sees that it's Gar, with his self-deprecating half-smile and twinkly brown eyes.

"Stalker." She calls from the couch, turning back to the movie screen.

"Harsh." Gar walks easily into the room, and as Rachel turns to smile at him, her vision swerves and twists and he looks just like Jason and a sadistic smirk is on his angelic features and a scream rises in her throat and stays there.

But it passes just as suddenly as it appeared and when she blinks he's her Gar, a worried look on his face.

She puts a scowl on her face and brushes a few strands of hair away. "Don't stare, Grasstain. It's unbecoming."

The worry lines disappear as he snorts and folds himself next to her on the couch. Her head is still pounding, but she thinks she's doing an okay job of hiding it because nobody seems worried or anything.

"See, Rachel!" Argent says shrilly. "Gar gets it!"

"Of course he does, he's half-female." Rachel nestles herself back into her ratty couch cushions.

"I assure you, I am completely male." Gar smirks slightly. "Wanna prove it?"

"Kay, guys," Jessi turns to them, an exaggeratedly sweet tone in her voice. "I am trying to watch the freakin' movie, so shut the hell up." Turning back to the screen, she let out a shriek. "Bastards! You made me miss my favorite Bender/Claire scene!"

"The one where he asks her if she's ever been felt up?" Another low voice comes from Rachel's doorway, and she recognizes it immediately.

"That one is amazing, but the favorite is the one where- get the hell out." Jessi growls, turning to face the figure, who Rachel can tell is Flash.

"Don't be that way, Jes." Flash sighs.

Jessi clicks the 'pause' button on the remote and turns around to glare at him. "Don't be what way? The way of girls that get left on their wedding day?"

Rachel's head begins pounding again, a feeling reminiscent of the coffee machines at Yoli's, and her vision swerves again. She swears inwardly and another wave of black covers her eyes.

"I didn't leave you! I just….I want to get to know you again."

"Sucks to suck," Jessi sneers. "You made it perfectly clear what you want. You want slender and quiet and sweet and beautiful, and that's not me. That's your precious little nursing buddy, Linda."

Flash's cheeks flush. "There is nothing going on between me and Linda-"

"You don't have to lie to me, Flash, I get it. She's what you want. _That_ life is what you want."

"What the hell are you talking about, Jessi?" Flash growls back. "Why would I want _Linda_ when there was the slimmest possibility that I could have you?"

"This is some Jerry Springer crap going on right now," Argent says solemnly. "And it's kind of freaking me out."

Jessi's mouth opens and closes like a fish's. "Why wouldn't you want her? She's friggin' perfect!"

"That's why I don't want her! Where's the fun in perfect?"

Karen's eyes widen. "Somebody get the camera, we are _so_ emailing this to Oprah."

"Why Oprah?" Kole says absentmindedly. "I mean, we could go David Letterman or Pearce Morgan or Jimmy Fallon."

"Jimmy Fallon is freakin' legit." Argent says, flicking at Rachel's ratty carpet. "Did you guys see that one thing he did with Justin Timber-"

"Alright." Rachel says finally, the pounding in her head getting worse and worse. "I can't deal with all of you right now, so if your name is not Garfield _frigging_ Logan, I want you out of here in t-minus seventy-five seconds."

"Why does Gar get to stay?" Kole whines. "We just got to the good part in The Breakfast Club."

"Gar gets to stay because I said so, and it's The Breakfast Club, Kole. All of it's the good part."

"Amen to that, sister." Karen heaves herself up. "Now, let's get out of here."

As they leave, Rachel can feel her headache getting worse and worse, and her vision swerves yet again, and this time Gar notices.

"Rae?" He says worriedly. "You okay?"

"Call me Rae one more time and you will see just how okay I am." She tries to muster up the energy to smile, but it's just not happening, so she settles for half-heartedly glaring. She moves a little closer to him on the couch and gingerly rests her head on his shoulder.

He turns and looks down at her. "You sure you're okay? You can tell me, you know. I'm like a kitty when it comes to listening."

"A kitty? Seriously?"

"Definitely! I'm cute, cuddly, and I don't start talking in the middle."

She reaches up and pats his dark hair. "Okay, then, Gar-the-kitty. I'm good, but I'll keep that in mind."

Gar makes an affronted sound, but Rachel is too lost in her own thoughts to care. Soon, Gar's breathing evens out and she can tell he's sleeping, but she knows that sleep won't come as easy for her. It never has, and it probably never will.

_**Wednesday, 4:10 a.m., Rachel's apartment:**_

When Rachel wakes up that morning, there is an insatiable need in the pit of her stomach. She craves the drugs; she needs them, and it only takes a second for her to wrench herself off of the couch and start yanking through the piles on the floor for the pills. Gar bolts up blearily, rubbing at his eyes and trying to figure out what's going on. She hears the couch creak as he leaves it, but she keeps clawing through, desperately searching for her little white salvation.

His arms snake around her waist, pulling her gently away. She claws at his arms, a red fog blinding her senses and leaving nothing but the aching for the pills.

"Rachel," He says forcefully, "Rachel, stop."

He never speaks forcefully to her; he's Gar, he's always sweet and kind and soft and forceful is Jason, not Gar, only now they're meshing in her mind until they're the same and she

Needs

The

Drugs.

"No," She hisses, "No, you don't understand- I need it, it- I can't, no-"

"No you don't, Rachel." He says firmly. "You're better than this."

Hot tears seep from her eyes, because she isn't, she's every bit as bad as this, and it eats her up that he can't see the brokenness inside of her.

"Please, Rachel," His voice is soft and pleading, but it's not enough to clear her mind. "Come back to me."

She acts as if she isn't in control of her body, clawing at his face and his arms, leaving deep gouges all over his skin. He yelps in surprise, and she dives back into the sea of dirty clothes, searching for the pills. She locates them finally, and she's about to gulp them all down dry, but she hears him muttering curses and for some reason, it brings her back to reality.

She turns around slowly.

One hand is pressed to his face, the other to his arm, and she can see the vivid pink lines through his hands. There is a look of fear and hurt and betrayal and guilt and such _sadness_ in his eyes.

"Gar," She says softly, "Gar, I'm so sorry,"

He shakes his head and takes her in his arms, and the hot tears she finally cries seep into his shirt.

The pills slip from her hand.

***O* **

That day, he leaves.

She doesn't wait for him to come back.

**A.N. It's another one of those 'eh' chapters. Sorry about all the angst...but I'm having self-confidence/boy issues, so that's translating into buckets of angst for my stories :/. **

**The sexy british boys want you to review. You should go do that. **

**REVIEW?**


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